Daphna Renan

Daphna Renan is the Peter B. Munroe and Mary J. Munroe Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Her work focuses on the U.S. presidency and the design of American democracy from the perspective of administrative and structural constitutional law. She has published extensively in leading law journals including the Columbia Law Review, Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and Yale Law Journal.

Renan received her B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale College in 2000, summa cum laude. She earned an M.A. in International and Comparative Legal Studies from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies in 2001, and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2004, where she served as an articles editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Professor Renan's research centers on constitutional theory, particularly the relationship between judicial supremacy and democratic governance. She argues for 'a more political constitutionalism' that would distribute constitutional authority beyond the Supreme Court to democratically elected bodies. Her work explores presidential powers, the separation of powers, and how constitutional meaning is developed through political contestation rather than judicial finality. She contends that constitutional rights are 'only as secure as our politics can make them,' emphasizing the role of Congress and the executive in shaping constitutional interpretation.

Renan's publications reveal a consistent focus on the provisional nature of constitutional order and the role of political institutions in constituting constitutional meaning. Her scholarship spans from historical analyses of political abolitionism's constitutional theories to contemporary critiques of judicial supremacy. A recurring theme is how unwritten norms and practices shape constitutional governance, particularly regarding presidential power. Her recent work with Nikolas Bowie examines the historical roots of judicial supremacy and advocates for congressional reclamation of constitutional authority.

Professor Renan has held significant government positions, having served from 2009-2012 in the U.S. Department of Justice as a Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General and then as an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel. She also served on President-Elect Obama's Justice Department transition team. Prior to her government service, she clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.