George Thomas, Ph.D.

Burnet C. Wohlford Professor of American Political Institutions

Department

Government

Areas of Expertise

American Constitutionalism

American Political Thought

Constitutional Law

Supreme Court

George.Thomas@ClaremontMcKenna.edu

Kravis Center

332

CV

Office Hours

Tuesday, 1:30 – 3:00 PM

Thursday, 1:30 – 3:00 PM

By Appointment

Education

B.A., University of Utah; Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Assistant Professor, Williams College.

Awards and Affiliations

Huntington Library grant (2013)

National Endowment for the Humanities grant (2010)

American Political Science Association’s Alexander L. George Award (2006)

Research and Publications

The (Un)Written Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2021)

The Founders and the Idea of a National University: Constituting the American Mind (Cambridge University Press, 2015, paperback 2017).

The Madisonian Constitution (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008).

“The Founding, Constitutional Imperfection, and the Future of the American Experiment” American Political Thought Vol. 10, No. 3 (Summer 2021): 481-498.

“Religious Liberty, Same-Sex Marriage and Public Accommodations” Perspectives on Politics Vol. 16, No. 1 (March 2018): 58-72.

"Rethinking the Dartmouth College Case in American Political Development: Constituting Public and Private Educational Institutions" Studies in American Political Development, 29 (April 2015), 23-39

“Constitutional Law as Civic Education” National Affairs Number 43 (Spring 2020): 177-191.

“The Constitution at War with Itself: Lincoln, Slavery, and America’s Second Founding” The Bulwark, March 25, 2022

“‘America is a Republic, Not a Democracy,’ is a Dangerous—and Wrong—Argument” The Atlantic, November 2, 2020