Podcasting
January 12, 2026
Listen to my latest podcast with the New Books Network
Has American democracy outstripped its constitutional accommodations? Faith in the resilience and adaptability of the US Constitution rests on a long history of finding new ways to make the system work. In The Adaptability Paradox: Political Inclusion and Constitutional Resilience (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Stephen Skowronek examines the rearrangements that regenerated the American government in the past and brings that experience to bear on our current predicament. He shows how a constitution framed in writing some 230 years ago can run into serious difficulties directly related to its long and impressive history of adaptation.
Skowronek connects questions about the Constitution’s adaptability to the challenges of democratization. Rather than being liberated by this unbound Constitution, the American people now appear entrapped by it. Is it possible that the development of American democracy has exhausted the adaptive capacities of the Constitution? A timely reminder that constitutional democracies do not survive on faith alone, The Adaptability Paradox is a sober appraisal of the unfamiliar ground on which we now tread.
Previous episodes
The Political Development of American Debt Relief
Interview with Thurston & Zackin (25 Jun 2024)
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When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People
An interview with author Dara Z. Strolovitch (October 31, 2023)
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Why Bad Policies Spread (And Good Ones Don't)
An interview with author Craig Volden (February 21, 2022)
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The Judicial Tug of War
An interview with authors Maya Sen and Adam Bonica (November 17, 2021)
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The Limits of Party
An interview with authors Frances E. Lee and James M. Curry (October 6, 2021)
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Secular Surge
An interview with authors David E. Campbell and Geoffrey C. Layman (August 18, 2021)
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