Constitutional Drift Over Time

Weighted negative mass, by year

Each action’s impact weight times how far it conflicted, summed per year. Taller means a heavier year of serious conflict — the height alone carries the magnitude.

Severe-violation rate, by kind of action

One small chart per kind of action, all drawn on the same scale so they compare honestly. A dash means too few scored actions that year to show a rate.

Shaded areas mark years still being backfilled for that kind of action — see the coverage notes below.

By institution

Administrations, Congresses, and branches are different kinds of thing — a Congress spans parts of two administrations, and a branch is not a time period at all. So each gets its own panel with its own honest labels. The panels share one vertical scale so the bar heights compare fairly, but they are never forced onto a single mixed axis. The same standard applies to every one.

Enacted vs. proposed

A bill that was proposed is not a law that was enacted. The two are shown as separate lines — solid for enacted, dashed for “proposed — not enacted” — and are never added together.

What’s still filling in

The record is still being backfilled. Shaded areas on the small charts above, and the notes below, show how far each kind of action is complete — so a thin recent year reads as “still loading,” not “nothing happened.”

• Agency Rule — 5,491 scored actions, complete through 2026. Backfill in progress for later years.
• Bill — 3,613 scored actions, complete through 2026. Backfill in progress for later years.
• Supreme Court Ruling — 1,693 scored actions, complete through 2026. Backfill in progress for later years.
• Executive Order — 1,394 scored actions, complete through 2026. Backfill in progress for later years.
• Federal Appellate Ruling — 43 scored actions, complete through 2015. Backfill in progress for later years.
• Executive Proclamation — 1 scored actions, complete through 2025. Backfill in progress for later years.