The fundamental point of conservatism toward the Constitution is: who gets to make changes to laws? Should it be the elected representatives of the people, whether laws passed by Congress & the President or amendments approved by Congress and state legislatures, or should it be unelected judges/justices? Liberals want judges and experts …
The fundamental point of conservatism toward the Constitution is: who gets to make changes to laws? Should it be the elected representatives of the people, whether laws passed by Congress & the President or amendments approved by Congress and state legislatures, or should it be unelected judges/justices? Liberals want judges and experts to apply their superior intellect to solving society's problems, regardless of the boundaries set by the Constitution (or laws; see Chevron deference, now thankfully eliminated); conservatives believe that legitimacy derives from the constitutional framework and political decisions within it. Process matters, not just the end result. If the law as written gives a bad result, it's the job of our elected representatives to change it, rather than let judges or agencies act as unaccountable, "benevolent" dictators. As Sarah Isgur puts it on the podcast Advisory Opinions, "Congress, do your job!"
By the way, it is emphatically the duty of the Supreme Court to "go against the wishes of the majority of Americans" when that majority wants to flout the Constitution. Whether it is protecting black schoolchildren in 1950s Little Rock, a Jehovah's Witness who doesn't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, or a crisis pregnancy center in California that doesn't want to have to advertise where to go for abortions, the Constitution protects the minority from an overbearing government that has majority support, while still leaving ordinary matters of government to majority rule.
The fundamental point of conservatism toward the Constitution is: who gets to make changes to laws? Should it be the elected representatives of the people, whether laws passed by Congress & the President or amendments approved by Congress and state legislatures, or should it be unelected judges/justices? Liberals want judges and experts to apply their superior intellect to solving society's problems, regardless of the boundaries set by the Constitution (or laws; see Chevron deference, now thankfully eliminated); conservatives believe that legitimacy derives from the constitutional framework and political decisions within it. Process matters, not just the end result. If the law as written gives a bad result, it's the job of our elected representatives to change it, rather than let judges or agencies act as unaccountable, "benevolent" dictators. As Sarah Isgur puts it on the podcast Advisory Opinions, "Congress, do your job!"
By the way, it is emphatically the duty of the Supreme Court to "go against the wishes of the majority of Americans" when that majority wants to flout the Constitution. Whether it is protecting black schoolchildren in 1950s Little Rock, a Jehovah's Witness who doesn't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, or a crisis pregnancy center in California that doesn't want to have to advertise where to go for abortions, the Constitution protects the minority from an overbearing government that has majority support, while still leaving ordinary matters of government to majority rule.