Joining the Party, Part 1 | America's Unwritten Constitution with Akhil Reed Amar

The Constitution never mentions political parties, yet the two-party system is as fixed a feature of America as the Mississippi River. Akhil Reed Amar explains the paradox. This lecture shows how the original presidential rules, where the runner-up became vice president, courted disaster once parties emerged, as the Adams-Jefferson contests of 1796 and 1800 revealed. Amar traces how the Twelfth Amendment rebuilt the system for two parties, and reads the later amendments, from the antislavery Reconstruction measures to women's suffrage and the twenty-second and twenty-fifth, as products of partisan practice. Chapters: 00:00 The two-party system as a fixed feature 01:23 Madison, Federalist 10, and partisanship 03:37 The original electoral college 05:12 The elections of 1796 and 1800 09:39 The 12th Amendment 11:34 Partisan amendments: the 13th, 14th, 15th 17:48 Party practice in later amendments 📚 Learning objectives: After watching, you'll be able to: - Explain why the original Constitution did not anticipate political parties - Trace how the Twelfth Amendment adapted presidential selection to a two-party world - Analyze how later amendments reflect partisan practice - Assess the claim that partisanship is built into the constitutional system 📺 Watch the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLABHWcbOLwlY 🎓 Enroll on Coursera for assessments and a certificate: https://www.coursera.org/learn/unwritten-constitution 🌐 Explore more learning opportunities on Yale Online: https://online.yale.edu/courses/americas-unwritten-constitution