For the first time ever, the entire U.S. Constitution is on public display in the rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is an extraordinary exhibit. It reveals that the U.S. Constitution consists of many documents, not just the single self-contained document we have grown accustomed to seeing in popular culture. The U.S. Constitution is a multi-textual constitution. It consists of several documents, each equally supreme. Together, these multiple documents comprise the bundle of higher laws we call the U.S. Constitution.

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Here are the 20 different documents on display: (1) the four-page founding document, signed in 1787 by the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention; (2) the single-page resolution transmitting the founding document to the states; (3) the single-page Bill of Rights, which engrosses all ten amendments enacted simultaneously in 1791; and (4) 17 separate single- or multi-page resolutions ultimately approved as official amendments to the Constitution. 

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This historic exhibit (pictured below) is on display until October 1, 2025. If you are unable to visit before then, the National Archives has created a virtual tour of the exhibit.

 Write the World and the Supreme Court Historical Society have joined forces to host a writing competition on the rule of law for students aged 13 to 19, residing anywhere in the world. Submissions are welcome in three genres: (1) personal narrative; (2) opinion editorial; and (3) creative writing. Winners will receive cash prizes. The competition opens on October 6 and closes on October 27. There is no cost to enter. Details are available here. 

The 2025 report on the Global State of Democracy is now available. Published by International IDEA, the annual report assesses the state of democracy around the world. Every country has its own detailed analysis. Every region has its own comparative analysis. And there are world rankings on several measures of democracy, including the rule of law, rights, representation, and participation. The Top 10 countries on the Rule of Law are shown below. I recommend the entire 332-page report, available here. 

 Registration is now open for the next World Congress of Constitutional Law, to be held in Bogotá, Colombia, at Externado University, where I have been a long-term Visiting Professor of Law. Held every four years, the World Congress brings together scholars, practitioners, judges, civil servants, and others for an entire week of discussions, debates, and learning about constitutional law. The World Congress offers exciting opportunities to present a paper and to organize a workshop. The deadline is September 30. Details and registration are available here.

Earlier this month, the heads of Dartmouth University (Sian Beilock) and the University of California – Berkeley (Rich Lyons), sat together for a joint interview on the major issues of the day in higher education: student loans, university endowments, post-graduation employment, viewpoint diversity, and how Artificial Intelligence will impact student learning and outcomes. It is a candid conversation worth watching. The video is linked below.

For the fifth year in a row, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan has published an annual report. The report summarizes the Court's 2024 case law along with its many scholarly and international engagements. The report also offers a basic introduction to the judges, history, and structure of the Court. It is freely available online here.

Five years ago this month, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg succumbed to pancreatic cancer. A tireless advocate for gender equality and the Equal Rights Amendment, the late Justice Ginsburg has left a lasting impact on the law of women's rights. In a forthcoming book titled The Jurisprudential Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over a twenty scholars examine her contributions to subjects beyond gender equality and women's rights, including immigration, voting rights, capital punishment, free speech, environmental law, taxation, and so much more. The book will be published by NYU Press in November. It is available now for pre-order.

In the last edition of The Leaflet, I highlighted the world's best non-U.S. universities. Most were primarily English-language institutions. A reader of The Leaflet – Pierre Foucher, public law professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa – wrote to me inquiring whether I might highlight some of the world's best French-language institutions. Here, below, are the world's Top Five French-language law schools, as ranked by QS World University Rankings. 

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1. Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

2. Sciences Po

3. Université libre de Bruxelles

4. Université Paris Panthéon-Assas

5. Université catholique de Louvain

Congratulations to Alexandre Freitas Couto, the newest doctoral graduate in law from the Universidade de Brasília. His doctoral dissertation examines whether it can ever be legitimate to evade presidential term limits. In his excellent analysis of an increasingly common problem around the world, he inquires into the meaning of legitimacy, the relationship between legitimacy and democracy, and the weight that ought to be given to popular acceptance in assessing whether an act is legitimate or not. 

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I had the pleasure of participating in his doctoral defense last week. It was attended also by Juliano Zaiden Benvindo (supervisor), Rosalind Dixon, Zachary Elkins, Guilherme Scotti Rodrigues, and Raul Sanchez-Urribarri. (We are all pictured below on the day of his defense.) Congratulations Dr. Couto!

Meet Bell Yosef, a scholar of public law scholar at Ono Academic College Faculty of Law and a senior researcher at the Tachlith Institute. Her research examines how democratic institutions interact, focusing on courts, parliaments, and legislative processes.

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I'm working on several articles that expand our understanding of the separation of powers while strengthening the democratic role of legislators. I'm approaching this issue from multiple research angles: parliamentary oversight and the separation of powers, judicial effectiveness in addressing social and polycentric issues, and improving legislative processes.

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I'm excited to begin an empirical and qualitative study of judicial decisions, examining how the existence of issues under parliamentary oversight influences the nature, quality, and scope of judicial review. Instead of asking “what should courts do?,” I'm asking “when parliament is already watching an issue, how does that change judicial behavior?” It's institutional psychology, in a way.

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A Double-Edged Sword: Constitutional Dialogue Confined captures my approach—optimistic about institutional dialogue while wrestling with its limits. It recognizes that in a liberal democracy, which acknowledges the complexity of political processes and representation, there is a need to balance institutional considerations with the protection of fundamental rights during constitutional interactions.  

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Editor's Note: If you would like to nominate someone for a future edition of “Three Questions,” please let me know!

Last week, Mexico celebrated its 215th Independence Day. For the first time, a woman – President Claudia Sheinbaum – led the national celebrations. Here in Austin, I was delighted to attend celebrations at the Consulate of Mexico at the invitation of Consul General Humberto Hernández Haddad. Consul General Hernández formerly served as a Congressperson and Senator in the Congress of Mexico, Chair of the Science and Technology Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Commission, and a law professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. We are pictured below at the Consulate's commemoration of Mexican independence.