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GeneralJuly 27, 2026

The Defining American Fight: Who Constitutes the Political Community

By Patrick J. Wolf, PhD

Published by The American Founders Institute.

The most consequential political conflicts in a republic are rarely about policy. They are about legitimacy — specifically, about who holds the standing to participate in self-governance. For most of American history, that question was settled enough that politicians could fight about taxes, tariffs, and spending without the constitutional order itself becoming the prize. That […]

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Dispatches are published by the American Founders Institute, the research division of the Society.