Prohibition Was a Failed Experiment in Moral Governance

A century ago, Prohibition went into effect around the United States, and the evangelical Protestants who had fought for 80 years to make it a reality celebrated. With the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, which proscribed “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” across the United States, they had achieved something unparalleled by any movement before or since: They had introduced a new moral decree into the Constitution. In doing so, they believed that they had enshrined Protestant virtue in American life and saved the country from decay—forever.

But the Eighteenth Amendment holds another distinction: It’s the only amendment that’s ever been repealed. The Prohibition era lasted just 13 years, and is now regarded as a cautionary tale for the regulatory state. The restriction of private behavior has outlived the alcohol ban, persisting in state and local governments and finding new life in modern conservative administrations. But the idea of using a