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Groupthink and Identity Tribalism Damage Our Constitutional Republic

Groupthink and Identity Tribalism Damage Our Constitutional Republic
Protestors and counter-protestors clash during a demonstration against stay-at-home orders near Los Angeles City Hall on May 1, 2020. Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images
Wenyuan Wu
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Commentary

At the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Elizabeth Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin whether the newly declared nation of the United States was a republic or a monarchy. Dr. Franklin replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.” At the time, the central thesis of America’s public policy discourse was preoccupied with devising the world’s first modern human experiment of self-government.

Wenyuan Wu
Wenyuan Wu
Author
Wenyuan Wu holds a doctorate in international studies from the University of Miami and is the executive director of Californians for Equal Rights Foundation. Wu’s recent advocacy has focused on combatting critical race theory in American public life. She has given expert testimony in various state legislature hearings on the topic and helped launched the website RejectCRT.org. She writes for Minding the Campus of the National Association of Scholars and sits on the board of Parents Defending Education Action.
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