Cass R. Sunstein — Separation of Powers
Holberg Prize-winning legal scholar argues separation of powers is not procedural formality but the essential safeguard of liberty.
Why we picked this
Sunstein has spent decades thinking harder about constitutional structure than almost anyone alive. This talk arrives at a moment when that thinking matters urgently.
Cass R. Sunstein makes the case that the separation of powers — often treated as dry constitutional machinery — is in fact the central guarantor of individual liberty. Drawing on decades of scholarship and his experience in government, Sunstein argues that when that structure erodes, freedom follows.
Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and one of the most cited legal scholars in the country. He has written more than fifty books on constitutional law, behavioral economics, and regulatory policy, and served as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Obama. In 2023 he received the Holberg Prize, the most prestigious international award in the humanities and social sciences.
The conversation will be moderated and open to audience questions. At Politics and Prose, the Q&A often proves as substantive as the talk itself.