As 2024 and my time as CEO of the Federalist Society drew to a close I reflected on not only the successes of the last year but also on the key things that the Society has accomplished over time. Throughout its time the Society consistently stayed true to its focus on openly and energetically exploring the ideas that lie behind our constitutional system and the rule of law. This focus on ideas is not a rejection of the value of direct advocacy, which indeed many of our members engage in. We are always proud of those members personally actively playing their proper role as citizens and trying to apply the ideas they believe that are vital to our country.

But they do such advocacy on their own because for the Society it is the focus on ideas that sets the organization apart and has helped it offer an enormous contribution to law and the public policy debate. If you have enough good people seriously examining and struggling with how best to design and operate a legal system that helps its citizens flourish, you will also end up training leaders who can play a vital role in addressing whatever problems arise.

The principles of the Society focus on a belief in limited constitutional government, the separation of powers, the rule of law and individual freedom. Understanding those principles, injecting them into our legal and public policy discussions, and understanding that through debate and discussion we can help ourselves and others better understand them has, I believe, been key to our success.

Intellectually serious societies generally flourish and societies that are not intellectually serious don’t. The United States is the only country founded on an idea, and throughout most of its history it has continued to take its founding ideas—and challenges to them—seriously. The Federalist Society, I believe, has made an enormous contribution in continuing to help examine and refine those ideas. I thank all those who have been a part of it during my 40+ year tenure. As Sheldon takes over as CEO I am confident that that will not change.

 

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Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public policy matters. Any expressions of opinion are those of the author. We welcome responses to the views presented here. To join the debate, please email us at info@fedsoc.org.