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Between 1917 and 1921, twenty-one states and two territories passed anti-criminal syndicalism laws. Conceived in a moment of widespread labor militancy, political radicalism, and wartime state repression, criminal syndicalism laws were presented as a tool for preventing terrorism and buttressing state security. In reality, they were intended to facilitate the elimination of t...

This past weekend, the United States marked its semiquincentennial. Under different circumstances, this would be cause for celebration: a democratic experiment that has endured for a quarter of a millennium. Yet for many on the American left, the anniversary arrives at an uncertain moment, bringing two imperatives into view at once. The first is constitutional: how to confron...

In a series of recent posts on this blog, a consensus emerged. It started with Beau J. Baumann’s call for LPE to adopt “a constitutional politics,” which he defined as “a movement or coalition’s core claims about who should wield state power and on what terms.” Surprisingly, Baumann wasn’t warning about, say, the perils of rich people ruling; instead, he advocated “restor[ing...

School’s out. The Knicks and Spurs are done for the season. And, after today, the Supreme Court takes a brief hiatus from terrorizing the body politic. Which makes it the perfect time to grab some popcorn, dim the lights, and continue your LPE education through fifteen films about law, power, organizing, and a perpetually moving train. A quintessential American documentary......

The idea that law shapes markets—one of LPE’s foundational premises—teaches us to look for the state’s visible hand behind our economy’s biggest winners. Over the past ten years of U.S. economic policy, one hasn’t had to look particularly hard to find it. From Operation Warp Speed to the CHIPS Act to the Inflation Reduction Act to the export license deal with Nvidia to a slew...