Antonin Scalia - On American Exceptionalism

Caption notes

In this opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2011, Antonin Scalia distinguishes written rights from governmental structures that limit concentrated power. Through two chambers, a separately elected executive and veto powers, he argues that gridlock need not mean institutional failure: deliberate obstacles can slow legislation and give minorities opportunities to resist. This is Scalia’s defense of the American design, not proof that every obstruction is beneficial. His generalizations about other countries’ legislatures and historical constitutions are not independently verified here. The guide neither presents those comparisons as current legal descriptions nor substitutes his position for evidence about particular institutional outcomes.