Impeachment: A Citizen’s Guide

With impeachment proceedings beginning and political discourse being dominated by the topic today, I thought it might be interesting to refresh myself on the topic and get a more complete understanding of how impeachment works, its origins, and its critical interpretation over time.

Sunstein’s book was great; he gives a helpful historical review of impeachment’s (or its precursors) pre-American role in other societies such as monarchical Britain, then spends a good deal of time discussing the many debates and interpretations on impeachment of the Founding Fathers before, during and after the constitutional drafting process.

The takeaway here is just how arbitrary the language is about what constitutes an impeachable offense; even those like James Madison, who had strong opinions one way, often flipped to another interpretation after a matter of months. Then there is the often forgotten component of, operationally, how impeachment is actually carried out, and by what bodies.

It’s probable, Sunstein notes, that impeachment’s true value is as a Sword of Damocles. Thus, we lack precedent to give us any confidence about what could happen in an impeachment proceeding, or rather, how should happen. I’d recommend this book for anyone who really wants to understand the varying sides of the process, so they can come to their own emergent interpretation and feel most informed.