Will the Supreme Court Give the President More Immunity Than a Roman Emperor?

Two Centuries of Ancient Legal Scholarship Applied the Same Laws to Leaders as Everyone Else

I have been studying and writing about Roman emperors for more than 30 years. I never imagined I would live in a time and place where the judicial system might give more extensive legal immunity to an American president than any Roman emperor ever enjoyed. Until last Thursday.

Contemporary imagination often assumes that Roman emperors enjoyed absolute authority to do what they wanted with their empire’s resources, wealth, and military power. They did not. Rather, Roman emperors were magistrates who held office for life, managing the Roman state on behalf of …

by Edward Watts | May 2, 2024

Run, Arnold, Run!

Despite Disqualifying Constitutional Limits on His Candidacy, Trump Is Running for President. Only You-Know-Who Can Help Our FUBAR Country

by Joe Mathews | January 9, 2024

Dear Arnold,

I’m enjoying your new Netflix action series, FUBAR. You’re funny and convincing as a retiring CIA agent who is pulled back into a very messed-up intelligence conflict because he …

The Case for Taking Trump Off the Ballot

Call it the ‘Democratic Self-Defense Exception’—Blocking Candidates Who Undermine the Constitution Is Our Responsibility

by Joe Mathews | December 19, 2023

I was in favor of keeping Donald Trump’s name on the presidential ballot in California.

Until I went to Berlin this fall.

At a Saturday conference on German election law—if you haven’t …

What’s New About Neo-Nationalism, Anyway?

Autocrats Are Ancient. But Globalization, Migration, and Technology Are Giving Them Fresh Power

by JOHN AUBREY DOUGLASS | December 13, 2021

Led by a new breed of demagogues and autocrats, neo-nationalism describes the emergence, and in some cases revival, of extreme right-wing nationalist movements and governments. And throughout the world, the …

The Cycle of Public Panic Over Childhood That Got Us to QAnon

For 150 Years, Americans Have Misplaced Concerns for Their Kids—Helping Conspiracy Theories to Flourish

by Sherman Dorn | August 4, 2021

The story of QAnon’s violent extremism is often told as one of partisan polarization. We tend to focus on the most outlandish parts of the far-right conspiracy theory—which falsely claims …

The Theatrical Concept Powerful Enough to Break a Trumpian Spell

The Great German Playwright Bertholt Brecht Knew How to Jolt an Audience Out of Narrative Complacency

by Oliver Mayer | January 21, 2021

“All the gang of those who rule us
Hope our quarrels never stop
Helping them to split and fool us
So they can remain on top.”
— Bertholt Brecht, Solidarity …

Get More Zócalo