Curriculum vitae

Brown University

• Professor of Political Science, 2012-present
• Professor, by courtesy, of Philosophy, 2012-present
• Associate Professor (with tenure) of Political Science, 2007-2012
• Assistant Professor of Political Science, 2002-2007

Fordham University School of Law

• Visiting Professor of Law, Fall 2013; Spring 2016-2024

University of Chicago Law School

• Visiting Professor of Law, Fall 2014

Princeton University

• Rockefeller Faculty Fellow, Center for Human Values, 2010-2011
• Graduate Prize Fellow, Center for Human Values, 2000-2001
• Preceptor, 2000-2001

Harvard Law School

• Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Winter Term, 2009

Harvard University

• Faculty Fellow, Safra Family Foundation Center for Ethics, 2006-2007

Princeton University, M.A. 2000 (distinction), Ph.D. 2002, Department of Politics and Program in Political Philosophy

• Dissertation: “Rights and Reciprocity: A Democratic Theory of Privacy, Property and Capital Punishment”
• Committee: Amy Gutmann (Chair), George Kateb, Stephen Macedo
• Nominated for the Leo Strauss Prize in Political Philosophy

Stanford Law School, J.D. 2005

University of Cambridge, M.Phil. 1996, Program in Political Thought and Intellectual History

Pomona College, B.A. 1995, Politics and Philosophy

The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2024).

• Winner of the American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award
• Subject of a roundtable at the New England Political Science Association
• Featured interviews including Politico, The New Republic, MSNBC, CSPAN, New York Historical (with Preet Bharara)
• Featured reviews, including The Boston Globe and The Bulwark

The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents (New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2018).

• Subject of roundtables at Law and Society and American Political Science Association
• Kirkus starred review
• Multiple reviews, including New York Times and New York Review of Books
• Appointed 2020-2021 Phi Beta Kappa Carl Cranor Visiting Scholar to lecture on the book
• Featured interviews including MSNBC, CSPAN, Sirius XM, NPR, BBC

When The State Speaks, What Should it Say? How Democracies Can Protect Expression and Promote Equality (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012).

• Subject of a symposium in Brooklyn Law Review
• Subject of a symposium in Philosophy and Public Issues
• Subject of a symposium in concurringopinions.com
• Subject of roundtables at Law and Society and American Political Science Association

Constitutional Law and American Democracy: Cases and Readings (New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, 2011).

Democratic Rights: The Substance of Self-Government (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007).

• Subject of a symposium in Representation
• Subject of a symposium in Journal of Law and the Humanities
• Subject of an online reading group on publicreason.net
• Subject of a roundtable at American Political Science Association

Punishment, Property, and Justice: Philosophical Foundations of the Welfare and Death Penalty Controversies (Burlington, VT: Ashgate/Dartmouth Press, 2001).

“Democratic Reform for Donald Trump’s America,” with Aidan Calvelli, Political Science Quarterly, (2025).

“The United States Presidency: Powers and Constraint,” with Aidan Calvelli, Annual Review of Political Science, (2024).

“Praying for America: The Constitution’s Ban on Animus and Theocratic Reasoning,” (symposium on religious freedom), Brigham Young Law Review, (2022).

“A Democratic Theory of Punishment,” University of Toronto Law Journal, (symposium on punishment) (2020).

“Challenging Hate, Protecting Rights,” Jurisprudence (2017).

“Equality as a Basis for Religious Toleration: A Response to Leiter,” Criminal Law and Philosophy (2016).

“Sovereign and State: A Democratic Theory of Sovereign Immunity,” with David McNamee, Texas Law Review (2015).

“Popular Constitutionalism Contra Populism,” Constitutional Commentary (2015).

“Democratic Persuasion and Free Speech: A Response to Four Critics and Two Allies” (part of a symposium on my book, When the State Speaks What Should it Say?”) Brooklyn Law Review (2014).

“Value Democracy as the Basis for Viewpoint Neutrality,” Northwestern Law Review (2013).

“Public Justification and the Right to Private Property: Welfare Rights as Compensation for Exclusion,” Law and Ethics of Human Rights (2012).

“A Substantive Conception of the Rule of Law,” Nomos XLX: The Rule of Law (2011).

“Judicial Review and Democratic Authority: Absolute v. Balancing Conceptions,” Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy (part of symposium on T. Christiano’s The Constitution of Authority) (2011).

“Defending the Value Theory of Democracy: A Response to Six Critics,” Representation (part of symposium on my book Democratic Rights) (2011).

“When the State Speaks, What Should It Say? The Dilemmas of Free Speech and Democratic Persuasion” Perspectives on Politics (2010).

“A Transformative Theory of Religious Freedom: State Persuasion and the Reasons for Rights,” Political Theory (2010).

• Subject of “Critical Exchange,” in Political Theory (2011).

“The Global Reach of Democratic Ideals: Universal Implications of Procedure-Independent Values,” The Good Society (2009).

“The Rights of the Guilty: Punishment and Political Legitimacy,” Political Theory (2007).

• Subject of “Critical Exchange,” in Political Theory (2007).

“The Politics of the Personal: A Liberal Approach,” American Political Science Review (2007).

“The Value Theory of Democracy,” Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (2006).

“Popular Constitutionalism and the Case for Judicial Review,” (review essay), Political Theory (2006).

“Balancing Procedures and Outcomes Within Democratic Theory: Core Values and Judicial Review,” Political Studies (2005).

“Dignity, Citizenship, and Capital Punishment: The Right of Life Reformulated,” Studies in Law, Politics and Society (2002).

“From Liberalism to the End of Juridical Language: An Examination of Marx’s Early Jurisprudence,” Studies in Law, Politics and Society (1998).

“Public Justification and the Right to Private Property: Welfare Rights as Compensation for Exclusion,” in O’Neill and Williamson, Property Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).

“Punishment within the Social Contract.” in Sarat and Umphrey, Law as Punishment/Law as Regulation (Stanford University Press, 2011).

Review of T. Christiano, The Constitution of Equality: Democratic Authority and Its Limits (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). Journal of Politics. Review appears as part of a “Critical Exchange.”

Review of M. Schwartzberg, Democracy and Legal Change, (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Perspectives on Politics. Review appears as part of a “Critical Dialogue.”

Review of Civil Society and Government (Ethicon Series in Comparative Political Theory), Nancy L. Rosenblum and Robert C. Post, eds. Ethics.

“Trump’s Attacks on the Rule of Law Have Dangerous US Precedents,” The Guardian, 2024

“The Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling Mocks the Rule of Law,” The Guardian, 2024

“We Must Impeach Trump and Bar Him From Holding Office Again,” The Guardian, 2021

“Don’t Underestimate the Threat to Democracy at this Moment,” The Guardian, 2020

“The Supreme Court Should Tell Trump He Is Not Above The Law,” The New York Times, 2019

“Kavanaugh Must Answer The Abortion Question,” The New York Times, 2018

“Yes, It’s Possible to Indict A Sitting U.S. President,” The Washington Post, 2018

“Gorsuch, Abortion and the Concept of Personhood,” The New York Times, 2017

“How State and Local Government Can Protect the Constitution From Trump,” TIME, 2016

“Trump vs. the Constitution: A Guide,” Politico Magazine, 2016

“Why Prisoners Deserve the Right to Vote,” Politico Magazine, 2016

“A License to Say Anything,” (with N. Tebbe), The New York Times, 2015

“Born Free, But Not Indifferent,” Foreign Policy, 2012

The Presidents and the People, Center for Brooklyn History, 2024.

The Presidents and the People, Constitution Day Lecture, Clark University, 2024.

The Presidents and the People, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, 2024.

The Presidents and the People, Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University, 2024.

“The Presidency and the Constitution: Historical Case Studies and Contemporary Questions,” with Kate Shaw, New York Historical Society, 2024.

“The Oath and the Office,” Phi Beta Kappa Lectures, Bowdoin College, Rhodes College, Pomona College, 2020-2021.

“How to Respond to Hate Speech,” Phi Beta Kappa Lecture, University of Florida, 2020.

“Democratic Punishment,” CUNY Graduate Center, 2020.

“Constitutional Crisis and Recovery,” Rothermere American Institute, Oxford University, 2019.

“The American Presidency,” Annual Meiklejohn Lecture, Brown University (responses by Chris Hayes and Kate Shaw), 2018.

“Free Speech on Campus,” University College, London, 2017.

“Democratic Punishment,” Dartmouth College, 2017.

“Revisiting Membership and Morals,” Harvard University, 2016.

“Public Reason and the Religion Clauses,” Yale University, 2016.

“Epistemic Democracy and the Value Theory of Democracy,” Princeton University, 2014.

“Democratic Persuasion and the Freedom of Speech,” University of Chicago Law School, 2014.

“When the State Speaks, What Should it Say?” Harvard University, 2013.

“Viewpoint Neutrality, Free Speech, and the Reasons for Rights,” Northwestern Law School, 2012.

“Value Democracy and the Freedom of Expression: Protecting Rights and Promoting Free and Equal Citizenship,” University of Toronto, 2011.

“Value Democracy and the Freedom of Expression: Protecting Rights and Promoting Free and Equal Citizenship,” Yale University, 2011.

“Against Neutralism in Free Exercise Jurisprudence: Faith Based Groups, Discrimination, and State Subsidy,” University of Alabama Law School, Symposium on “Matters of Faith,” 2011.

“Value Democracy and the Freedom of Expression: Protecting Rights and Promoting Free and Equal Citizenship,” University of Stirling, Symposium on “Democracy and Rights,” September 2011.

“Value Democracy and the Freedom of Expression,” Center for Comparative Constitutional Law, Melbourne Law School, 2011.

“Value Democracy and the Freedom of Expression,” Australian National University, 2011.

“When the State Speaks, What Should it Say? Freedom of Expression and the Reasons for Rights,” The Leroy Keller Center for the Study of the First Amendment, University of Colorado, 2011.

“Public Justification and the Right to Private Property: Welfare Rights as Compensation for Exclusion,” Center for Law and Business, Symposium on “Reciprocity and Rights,” 2011.

“Democratic Persuasion,” Princeton University, 2010.

“Freedom of Expression and the Reasons for Rights,” Harvard University, 2010.

“When the State Speaks, What Should it Say? Freedom of Expression and the Reasons for Rights,” Princeton University, 2009.

“State Persuasion and the Reasons for Rights: A Transformative Theory of Religious Freedom,” Harvard Law School, 2009.

“A Transformative Theory of Religious Freedom,” Columbia University, 2009.

“A Transformative Theory of Religious Freedom,” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009.

“Beyond Rights,” University of Pennsylvania, 2008.

“Punishment and the Social Contract,” Corliss Lamont Lectureship Series, Amherst College, 2008.

“Beyond Rights: The Constitution’s Responses to Hate Speech,” Second Annual Brown University Constitution Day Lecture, Brown University, 2006.

“The Supreme Court as a Model for Mass Deliberation,” Conference on Designing 21st Century Governance Mechanisms, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Pocantico Hills Conference Center, 2006.

“Is the Family Beyond Justice? A Reply to Joshua Cohen,” Conference on the Work of Susan Okin, Stanford University, 2005.

“Democratic Rights: The Substance of Self-Government,” and “Public Justification and the Right to Private Property,” Young Scholar Weekend, Cornell University, Center for Ethics and Public Life, 2004.

“Democratic Rights,” Pomona College, Program in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, 2003.

“Democracy and Individual Rights,” Stanford University, 2003.

Phi Beta Kappa Carl Cranor Visiting Scholar, 2020-2021

Arab American Lawyers Association of Southern California Award For Achievement, 2019

Rockefeller Faculty Fellowship, Center for Human Values, Princeton University, 2010-2011

Safra Foundation Center for Ethics Faculty Fellowship, Harvard University, 2006-2007

Brown University Humanities Center Inaugural Fellowship, Brown University, Spring 2006

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Junior Faculty Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies, 2004-2005

Finalist, Barrett Hazeltine Award for Excellence in Teaching, Brown University, Spring 2004

Cornell University Young Scholar Award, Center for Ethics and Public Life, Cornell University, 2003-2004

Nomination, Leo Strauss Award in Political Theory, Princeton University, Fall 2002

University Fellowship, Princeton University, 1999-2000, 2001-2002

Graduate Prize Fellowship, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University, 2000-2001

Downing College Fellowship, Downing College, Cambridge University, 1995-1996

Beckner Prize for Excellence in Philosophy, Pomona College, May 1995

Phi Beta Kappa, Pomona College, May 1995

Law School:

• Constitutional Law I (Fordham Law School)
• Legislation and Regulation (Fordham Law School)
• The Constitution and the Presidency (Fordham Law School)
• The Language of the Constitution (Fordham Law School)
• First Amendment (University of Chicago Law School)
• Democratic Theory and the Law (Harvard Law School)

Undergraduate:

• Constitutional Law
• Civil Liberties
• Ethics and Public Policy
• Modern Political Thought

Graduate:

• Democracy, Justice, and the Law
• Liberalism and Its Critics: What is the Relationship between Democracy and Individual Rights?

Banai, Hussein, “Democratic Contextualism,” (Committee Chair), Associate Professor, Indiana University

Ly, Minh, “Global Deliberation,” (Committee Chair), Assistant Professor, University of Vermont

McGravey, Kevin, “Public Rights,” (Committee Chair), Assistant Professor, Merrimack College

McCalpin, Jermaine, “A Theory of Transitional Justice: The Case of South Africa,” Lecturer, University of West Indies

Western, David, “Hearts of Light: The Role of Empathy in Negotiation,” Assistant Professor, Valparaiso University

Phillips, John, “Natural Resources, Opportunity, and Global Justice,” Assistant Professor, Austin Peay State University