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VOOZH | about |
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VOOZH | about |
PhD, MA, political science, University of Chicago
BA, government and history, University of Virginia
Scholars
Gerald R. Ford Nonresident Senior Fellow
American politics, Elections, Public opinion
Jay Cost is the Gerald R. Ford nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on political theory, Congress, and elections. He is also a visiting scholar at Grove City College and a contributing editor at the Washington Examiner.
Dr. Cost’s interests are broadly focused on civic republicanism in the United States, with emphases on the political theory of James Madison, the problem of political corruption, the role of political parties, the development of civic institutions over time, and the power and responsibility of Congress. He writes and speaks frequently on American elections, with a special attention on placing contemporary trends in historical context.
His books include James Madison: America’s First Politician (Basic Books, 2021); The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy (Basic Books, June 2018); and A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of Political Corruption(Encounter Books, 2015). Dr. Cost’s next book, Democracy or Republic: The People and the Constitution is due to be released later this year.
Dr. Cost has a PhD and an MA in political science from the University of Chicago and a BA in government and history from the University of Virginia.
PhD, MA, political science, University of Chicago
BA, government and history, University of Virginia
Report
American Enterprise Institute
Free speech must be understood not only in the Lockean tradition of natural rights but, per James Madison, in the republican tradition as the key to ensuring popular sovereignty over the government.
BY Jay Cost ON 15 Oct 25
Report
American Enterprise Institute
The framers of the Constitution intended for Congress to dominate the other branches because it was where the public will was to be expressed. Today’s Congress, on the other hand, is dominated by the executive branch, and it hardly reflects the public will.
BY Jay Cost ON 5 Feb 24
Report
American Enterprise Institute
Key Points Socialism is increasingly popular as a political ideology on the American left, but in important respects, it is inconsistent with the vision laid forth in the American founding. Generally speaking, the founders’ vision...
BY Jay Cost ON 7 May 20
Report
American Enterprise Institute
Populism is not a substantive critique of politics. Although populist grievances include policy-related complaints and recommendations, populists are primarily anxious about the relationship between the people and their elected officials.
BY Jay Cost ON 1 Jun 18
Report
American Enterprise Institute
The First Amendment protects what we do, the essential activities of human life. It has an important teleological character, embodying three purposes that the founders believed were essential to human happiness.
BY Jay Cost ON 31 Mar 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
Our Stubborn Things hosts this week talk voting and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a.k.a. the SAVE Act, a.k.a. the SAVE America Act, currently making its way through Congress. Jay and Sean discuss how...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 27 Mar 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
This week, Jay and Sean tackle the results of the Senate primary in Texas. They discuss James Talarico’s victory in the Democratic primary and the religious dimension of Talarico’s candidacy. They also assess the strengths...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 10 Mar 26
Report
American Enterprise Institute
The constitutional system advances Madisonian commitments like democratic governance, deliberation, and consensus—not through the means James Madison preferred in 1787 but through the practical accommodations with classical republicanism that he eventually embraced.
BY Jay Cost ON 10 Mar 26
Op-Ed
The Roberts Court has not used its power to demobilize the judiciary’s role in the modern polity. It has, instead, used that role to stamp a decidedly conservative imprint upon it.
BY Jay Cost ON 6 Mar 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
AEI’s Jay Cost and Sean Trende talk about the topic on everyone’s mind this week: the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump, which struck down Presdient Trump’s use of tariffs under IEEPA....
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 26 Feb 26
Op-Ed
The Roberts Court has not used its power to demobilize the judiciary’s role in the modern polity. It has, instead, used that role to stamp a decidedly conservative imprint upon it.
BY Jay Cost ON 6 Mar 26
Op-Ed
Americans would be wise to revisit Webster’s speeches for they are a reminder that Congress can be a forum where the public’s views are given expression in a reasoned, eloquent, and uplifting fashion.
BY Jay Cost ON 3 Feb 26
Op-Ed
Thomas Bell’s The Constitution of Conflict: How the Supreme Court Undermines the Separation of Powers offers a timely and persuasive critique of judicial interference in the separation of powers.
BY Jay Cost ON 26 Jan 26
Op-Ed
Seven months after President Donald Trump launched his “Liberation Day” campaign of global economic protectionism, the government’s Solicitor General John Sauer stood before the U.S. Supreme Court to argue that Congress gave his boss the authority to...
BY Jay Cost ON 5 Jan 26
Op-Ed
The Speaker exercises enormous, often decisive influence on every stage of the policymaking process through his influence over committee appointments and authorities over legislative processes.
BY Jay Cost ON 5 Jan 26
Op-Ed
If by next year’s midterm elections, the public verdict is still sour, the Democrats will likely triumph, just as they did this month. And what kind of Democratic Party will it be? Emboldened by its victories, will it check its most divisive elements? Judging by the 2025 election returns, it probably will not.
BY Jay Cost ON 14 Nov 25
Report
American Enterprise Institute
The First Amendment protects what we do, the essential activities of human life. It has an important teleological character, embodying three purposes that the founders believed were essential to human happiness.
BY Jay Cost ON 31 Mar 26
Report
American Enterprise Institute
The constitutional system advances Madisonian commitments like democratic governance, deliberation, and consensus—not through the means James Madison preferred in 1787 but through the practical accommodations with classical republicanism that he eventually embraced.
BY Jay Cost ON 10 Mar 26
Book
In Democracy or Republic?, Jay Cost argues that America’s Constitution was designed for a republic, not a democracy. The Constitution ensures that the people rule for the good of all, not just those who happen to make up a majority.
BY Jay Cost ON 26 Jan 26
Report
American Enterprise Institute
Though the 1883 Pendleton Civil Service Act drastically reduced federal patronage, political machines proved extremely durable. A new breed of party boss built strong party organizations by forging a tight connection with business interests. In the face of persistent corruption, reformers like Woodrow Wilson theorized on how to reform the government, focusing on drastically reducing Congress’s role in American political life.
BY Jay Cost ON 15 Dec 25
Report
American Enterprise Institute
Free speech must be understood not only in the Lockean tradition of natural rights but, per James Madison, in the republican tradition as the key to ensuring popular sovereignty over the government.
BY Jay Cost ON 15 Oct 25
Report
American Enterprise Institute
Patronage was a hassle for Jacksonian presidents such as James K. Polk, but after the Civil War, it facilitated the development of massive political machines helmed by senators. Ultimately, the system collapsed only because of the assassination of James A. Garfield, leading to the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883, although the party machines and senatorial domination endured.
BY Jay Cost ON 12 Sep 25
Event
Join us as National Review’s Richard Brookhiser discusses what he has learned from a career studying the lives of the American founders, followed by a conversation with AEI’s Jay Cost.
BY Jay Cost + Christopher J. Scalia ON 5 Jan 26
Event
Event Summary On April 15, AEI’s Yuval Levin and Adam J. White hosted a symposium evaluating the American Revolution’s relationship to capitalism and free enterprise. The Heritage Foundation’s Chris DeMuth described how the American colonial...
BY Yuval Levin + Jay Cost + Adam J. White ON 19 Mar 24
Event
Event Summary On September 19, AEI’s Jay Cost and Adam J. White discussed Dr. Cost’s new book, Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution (AEI Press, 2023). Dr. Cost began by summarizing the book,...
BY Jay Cost + Adam J. White ON 1 Sep 23
Event
Please join AEI for a conversation between Dr. Cost and AEI’s Yuval Levin on how Madison developed a distinctly American idiom of political action and what this can illuminate about forging compromise in a diverse republic today.
BY Yuval Levin + Jay Cost ON 15 Nov 21
Event
Event Summary On Wednesday, AEI’s Jay Cost discussed his new book “The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy” (Basic Books, 2018) with Stephen Knott of the United States...
BY Ryan Streeter + Jay Cost ON 21 Jun 18
Podcast
Stubborn Things
Our Stubborn Things hosts this week talk voting and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a.k.a. the SAVE Act, a.k.a. the SAVE America Act, currently making its way through Congress. Jay and Sean discuss how...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 27 Mar 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
This week, Jay and Sean tackle the results of the Senate primary in Texas. They discuss James Talarico’s victory in the Democratic primary and the religious dimension of Talarico’s candidacy. They also assess the strengths...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 10 Mar 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
AEI’s Jay Cost and Sean Trende talk about the topic on everyone’s mind this week: the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump, which struck down Presdient Trump’s use of tariffs under IEEPA....
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 26 Feb 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
On this week’s episode, Jay and Sean continue their focus on the Senate. In particular, they talk about the formation, history, and modern uses of the filibuster. Our hosts explain the rationale for the filibuster...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 12 Feb 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
This week, Jay and Sean zoom out from the ongoing immigration enforcement debate to talk about the history and politics of immigration. In the spirit of Stubborn Things, Jay and Sean try to make sense...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 29 Jan 26
Podcast
Stubborn Things
This week, Jay and Sean talk the Donroe Doctrine. They address the centuries-old historical precedent of American military intervention in the Western Hemisphere and analyze how the Trump admiration’s forays into Venezuela fit into this...
BY Jay Cost + Sean Trende ON 20 Jan 26
