Law
Yuval Levin, Mila Versteeg
How can the U.S. Constitution chart a path to repairing political divisions? Join us for a conversation with Yuval Levin, senior fellow and director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute, about his book American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again. Drawing on the framers’ understanding of the challenges of discord, Levin explores the ways in which the Constitution can facilitate productive disagreement and resolution on areas of common ground and foster unity within a fractured society. UVA Law professor Mila Versteeg, who recently co-authored The Atlantic essay “American Democracy Still Has a Lot Going for It,” moderates the discussion.
The Nau Lab's “Touchstones of Democracy” series explores key events, places, thinkers, and texts that inform the history and principles of democracy. Leading up to the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence in July 2026, this event series is showcasing recent books that expand and deepen our understanding of the era of the American Revolution—and illuminate the connections of that period to the present.
The fall 2025 conversations are produced at the University of Virginia by the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
Speakers
Yuval Levin
Senior Fellow and Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, the American Enterprise Institute
Yuval Levin
Senior Fellow and Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, the American Enterprise Institute
Yuval Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of National Affairs. He is a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, a contributing editor to National Review, and his essays and articles have appeared in numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The Atlantic, and many others. He is the author, most recently, of American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again. He served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush and a congressional staffer at the member, committee, and leadership levels. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago.
Mila Versteeg
Professor of Law, UVA School of Law
Senior Fellow, Miller Center
Mila Versteeg
Professor of Law, UVA School of Law
Senior Fellow, Miller Center
Mila Versteeg joined the University of Virginia Law School in 2011. Her research and teaching interests include comparative constitutional law, public international law and empirical legal studies. She has published over 80 articles and book chapters, in both legal and social science journals. Her publications have, amongst others, appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the New York University Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Legal Studies, the Journal of Law and Economics, the American Journal of International Law, and the Journal of Law, Economics and Organizations. A number of her works have been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese and Turkish. Her new book How Constitutional Rights Matter won the Best Book Prize for 2019 and 2020 from the International Society of Public Law and the Best Book Award from the Human Rights Section of the American Political Science Association.