The Strong but Fair Executive.Energy in the executive, under the law.
You want a presidency able to lead, run the executive branch and act quickly, especially abroad. But you expect it to respect rights and court rulings: decisive, not unchecked.
Where you stand. On all five axes.
The Strong but Fair Executive
“Decisive leadership, accountable to the law.”
- The presidencyStrongly strong executive
- States and the nationLeans national government
- The courtsLeans judicial engagement
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
- Clear lines of responsibility in the executive branch
- Able to respond fast to danger
Where you’re tested
- Every power you grant a President you like goes to the next one
- Emergencies have a way of becoming permanent
Your docket. How you’d likely rule.
Six hypothetical cases, decided from where The Strong but Fair Executive 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 nationSides with the nation: federal law is supreme.
- No. 02In re AirstrikesThe President orders sustained airstrikes abroad without asking Congress.The presidencyUpholds the President’s call as Commander in Chief.
- No. 03City v. Rally OrganizersA city bans a peaceful rally whose message most residents find hateful.Liberty and orderStrikes the ban: the rally goes ahead.
- No. 04Challengers v. Popular StatuteA law passed by a wide margin is challenged as unconstitutional.The courtsEnforces the Constitution and strikes the law.
- 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 orderExcludes the evidence: get a warrant.
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: the presidency and states and the nation.
- Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer343 U.S. 579 (1952) · 6–3 · The presidencyCould President Truman seize the nation’s steel mills during the Korean War without authority from Congress?
- United States v. Nixon418 U.S. 683 (1974) · 8–0 · The presidencyCould President Nixon withhold White House tapes subpoenaed for a criminal trial?
- Trump v. United States603 U.S. 593 (2024) · 6–3 · The presidencyIs a former President immune from criminal prosecution for official acts?
- 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 Madisonian
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
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.