The Pragmatic Centrist.It depends on the case.
You weigh each constitutional question on its facts rather than from a single theory. You see force on both sides of most debates, and you are wary of any approach that answers every case the same way.
Where you stand. On all five axes.
The Pragmatic Centrist
“Principles, applied with judgment.”
- Reading the ConstitutionBalanced
- States and the nationBalanced
- The presidencyBalanced
constilumen.com/play/compass
Your profile card. What you’d share.
Take the compass and your own card shows your scores on every axis. Copy the link to your result and anyone who opens it sees the same picture.
Where you’re strong
- Open to the strongest argument on each side
- Avoids the blind spots of any single theory
Where you’re tested
- Can be hard to predict, even for yourself
- Without a theory, what decides the close cases?
Your docket. How you’d likely rule.
Six hypothetical cases, decided from where The Pragmatic Centrist stands on each one’s axis. Hypothetical on purpose: no real judge’s record is implied.
- No. 01State v. Federal MandateA governor refuses to carry out a new federal program inside the state.States and the nationWeighs the facts; could go either way.
- No. 02In re AirstrikesThe President orders sustained airstrikes abroad without asking Congress.The presidencyWeighs the facts; could go either way.
- No. 03City v. Rally OrganizersA city bans a peaceful rally whose message most residents find hateful.Liberty and orderWeighs the facts; could go either way.
- No. 04Challengers v. Popular StatuteA law passed by a wide margin is challenged as unconstitutional.The courtsWeighs the facts; could go either way.
- No. 05Petitioner v. Unnamed RightA court is asked to recognize a right the text never names.Reading the ConstitutionWeighs the facts; could go either way.
- No. 06People v. Roadside SearchPolice search a car without a warrant and find evidence of a crime.Liberty and orderWeighs the facts; could go either way.
The clauses you lean on. In the document itself.
Cases that test you. From the record.
The landmark cases that turned on your two strongest axes: reading the constitution and states and the nation.
- Griswold v. Connecticut381 U.S. 479 (1965) · 7–2 · Reading the ConstitutionCould a state ban married couples from using contraceptives?
- District of Columbia v. Heller554 U.S. 570 (2008) · 5–4 · Reading the ConstitutionDoes the Second Amendment protect an individual right to keep a handgun at home?
- Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization597 U.S. 215 (2022) · 6–3 · Reading the ConstitutionDoes the Constitution confer a right to abortion?
- McCulloch v. Maryland17 U.S. 316 (1819) · 7–0 · States and the nationCould Congress charter a national bank, and could a state tax it?
- Wickard v. Filburn317 U.S. 111 (1942) · 9–0 · States and the nationCould Congress limit wheat a farmer grew for use on his own farm?
- United States v. Lopez514 U.S. 549 (1995) · 5–4 · States and the nationCould Congress ban guns near schools under its commerce power?
Your rival: The Originalist Sentinel
The words meant something, and they still do.
Read their sideFurther reading. Official and nonpartisan.
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments, as ratified in 1791.
National Archives
Register to vote
Registration deadlines and how to register in every state and territory.
U.S. government
Constitution Annotated
The official, clause-by-clause analysis of how the Constitution has been interpreted.
Library of Congress
The Interactive Constitution
Each clause explained by scholars from different perspectives.
National Constitution Center
All civic resources, including how to register to vote and find your election office.