How America Works... and Why It Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the U.S. Political System

by William Cooper

But—on top of everything else—it compounds Americans’ frustration with their government. A “rogue” Supreme Court, many think, has pitted the Constitution against the public. After the court overruled Roe v. Wade along partisan lines, New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote that a “reckless, reactionary and power-hungry” Supreme Court shouldn’t “exist above the constitutional system.” The Economist piled on, asserting that a “less exceptional” America has “a set of federal laws that do not reflect what Americans actually want.” And even liberal justice Elena Kagan warned that if “the court loses all connection with the public and the public sentiment, that’s a dangerous thing for democracy.” Setting aside whether these sentiments are accurate, they reflect growing indignation among America’s political majority that their views don’t matter.