Unchecked and unbalanced: The Constitution’s Achilles heel

America is facing a crisis hidden beneath the tumult of today's news cycles — a constitutional system strained beyond the vision of its founders. The Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and defiance of a federal court order highlight a structural vulnerability deeply embedded in our nation's original design. This tension emerges most dangerously when partisan loyalty supersedes constitutional duty, endangering the secular democratic ideals at the heart of our republic.

Although it may feel sudden, the erosion of these ideals has unfolded over decades as political actors, backed by ideologically driven media ecosystems, have normalized behavior once considered unthinkable in a constitutional democracy. The mechanisms designed to restrain power—Congressional oversight, judicial independence, and a free press—function only as effectively as the willingness of institutions to enforce them. When these institutions fail to act — or worse, actively enable constitutional violations — the very fabric of democratic governance begins to fray.

Dangerous oversights

The United States Constitution emerged from Enlightenment rationalism, natural law principles, and a bold rejection of established religious authority and divine mandates in governance. But describing the founders' vision as purely secular overlooks their profound complexity. These individuals—ranging from deists like Jefferson and Franklin to religious rationalists such as Adams, and deeply faithful figures like John Jay—embraced a nuanced blend of Enlightenment rationalism and natural law, believing reason and morality accessible through both empirical evidence and a universal moral order.

Yet even as they crafted a system designed to limit theocratic influence, they failed to anticipate the ways in which religious nationalism could be wielded as a political weapon. In the centuries since, appeals to religious identity have repeatedly been used to justify policies that erode secular governance, from McCarthy-era loyalty tests to the culture wars that now shape Supreme Court nominations. The founders’ commitment to reason and evidence-based governance has been increasingly sidelined in favor of emotional appeals to tradition and authority, creating a widening chasm between constitutional ideals and political reality.

Their vision, groundbreaking in eliminating an official church for the first time in human history, coexisted with glaring contradictions, most notably slavery and severely limited suffrage.

Despite this extraordinary innovation—establishing no official religion—political parties swiftly emerged to undermine the founders' careful balancing of institutional power. Early conflicts, such as Jefferson’s contentious battles with Adams and the political manipulation behind the Alien and Sedition Acts, quickly revealed a profound flaw in their assumptions. Institutional integrity, they discovered, could be quickly eroded by partisan loyalty.

What they did not foresee was the modern entrenchment of party loyalty as an existential force, one that now defines political identity in ways that transcend policy differences. Today, gerrymandering, dark money in politics, and the rise of media silos reinforce a system where officials are more beholden to their party’s base than to the Constitution itself. The result is a governance model in which power, once acquired, is increasingly used to entrench itself rather than uphold democratic principles.

Accumulated power

Today, this structural vulnerability remains glaringly apparent. Our constitutional checks and balances—the legislature, judiciary, and executive—struggle under the pressure of relentless partisan unity. Presidents, insulated by party loyalty, defy judicial oversight without consequence. History provides stark precedents: Jackson's infamous defiance of the Supreme Court, Roosevelt's attempted court-packing, Nixon's disregard for legal constraints. Yet unlike these historic episodes, today's partisan allegiance systematically corrodes our constitutional safeguards. With each successive administration, executive power expands, congressional oversight diminishes, and judicial appointments become tools of ideological entrenchment rather than impartial arbitration. This steady accumulation of power in the executive branch is not just a political shift but a constitutional crisis in slow motion.

The Trump administration’s recent invocation of the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelan migrants vividly demonstrates the enduring peril posed by laws born from fear and prejudice. Initially born from wartime anxieties, its misuse during the internment of Japanese Americans—though primarily executed through Executive Order 9066—highlighted how swiftly constitutional rights vanish when fear overtakes reason. Now, its invocation against Venezuelan migrants reveals how easily modern administrations exploit fear, often leveraging rhetoric tinged with religious nationalism, to justify drastic departures from democratic norms and due process.

The normalization of such policies under the guise of national security erodes the principle of equal protection under the law, laying the groundwork for further erosions of civil liberties. Each instance of unconstitutional overreach that goes unchecked sets a precedent for the next, making it increasingly difficult to restore the constitutional equilibrium.

The test of our time

Yet secular democracy remains resilient, not through historical inevitability but through vigilant stewardship. Crucially, evidence-based reasoning and secular governance are not incompatible with religious diversity; rather, they create the foundation on which a pluralistic society thrives. In reaffirming secular habits of mind—empiricism, rationalism, skepticism, open-mindedness—we recommit to constitutional principles that protect all citizens equally. But this recommitment requires more than passive belief—it demands active resistance to encroachments on democratic norms, a renewed civic education that prioritizes constitutional literacy, and a media landscape that values truth over ideological convenience. It requires citizens to reject apathy and recognize that democracy is not self-sustaining; it must be actively defended against the forces that seek to undermine it.

Our secular democracy, built upon the fragile yet powerful ideals of reason, freedom, and human dignity, demands continuous care. It isn't guaranteed by history or design alone; it relies on our collective vigilance, courage, and determination to confront tribalism and ideological extremism. The urgent question is whether we possess the political courage and collective will to strengthen democracy’s guardrails before they collapse entirely. If history is any guide, democracies do not die in a single dramatic moment but erode gradually, weakened by the normalization of corruption, the abandonment of constitutional principles, and the slow decay of civic engagement. The future, always uncertain, calls upon us now to choose reasoned deliberation over partisan purity, and constitutional accountability over political expediency.

The Constitution, a profoundly human invention, can and must evolve. Let us ensure its ongoing transformation fortifies its founding virtues—reason, freedom, and dignity—against the partisan erosion threatening its core. Our secular democracy is not guaranteed simply by historical design; it endures only through our active commitment to the values that sustain it. Today, and every day, we must choose vigilance over complacency, courage over conformity, and reason over tribalism, safeguarding the fragile but precious experiment entrusted to our care.

This is the test of our time — whether we will rise to the challenge of preserving the constitutional order, or allow it to be rewritten by those who seek power above principle. The choice is ours, and the consequences will shape the future of American democracy for generations to come.