The Federalist's Vision of Popular Sovereignty in the New American Republic

The Federalist's Vision of Popular Sovereignty in the New American Republic PDF Author: Kathleen O. Potter
Publisher: LFB Scholarly Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
In reconstructing the theory of The Federalist Papers, Potter shows how its authors present the Constitution as a social compact that embraces a stronger version of popular sovereignty than that expressed in the consent theories of Hobbes or Locke. The Federalist: (1) recognizes complexity in the first stage of the compact that requires more from the people than mere consent; (2) introduces a formal constitution and procedure for obtaining popular consent into the second stage; (3) extends the compact beyond the founding moment by including a formal amendment procedure and provisions for "wholly popular" government; and (4) addresses the responsibilities of the people and, therefore, the requirement for virtue.

The Federalist's Vision of Popular Sovereignty in the New American Republic

The Federalist's Vision of Popular Sovereignty in the New American Republic PDF Author: Kathleen O. Potter
Publisher: LFB Scholarly Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
In reconstructing the theory of The Federalist Papers, Potter shows how its authors present the Constitution as a social compact that embraces a stronger version of popular sovereignty than that expressed in the consent theories of Hobbes or Locke. The Federalist: (1) recognizes complexity in the first stage of the compact that requires more from the people than mere consent; (2) introduces a formal constitution and procedure for obtaining popular consent into the second stage; (3) extends the compact beyond the founding moment by including a formal amendment procedure and provisions for "wholly popular" government; and (4) addresses the responsibilities of the people and, therefore, the requirement for virtue.

The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers PDF Author: Alexander Hamilton
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528785878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

Charting an American Republic

Charting an American Republic PDF Author: Jude M. Pfister
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476662312
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
With the American revolutionaries in discord following victory at Yorktown and the Paris Peace Treaty of 1783, the proposed federal Constitution of 1787 faced an uncertain future when it was sent to the states for ratification. Sensing an historic moment, three authors--Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay--circulated 85 essays among their fellow statesmen, arguing for a strong federal union. Next to the Constitution itself, The Federalist papers are the most referenced statement of the Founding Fathers' intentions in forming the U.S. government. This book takes a fresh look at the papers in the context of the times in which they were created.

We the People

We the People PDF Author: Bruce Ackerman
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674736621
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
Constitutional change, seemingly so orderly, formal, and refined, has in fact been a revolutionary process from the first, as Bruce Ackerman makes clear in We the People: Transformations. The Founding Fathers, hardly the genteel conservatives of myth, set America on a remarkable course of revolutionary disruption and constitutional creativity that endures to this day. After the bloody sacrifices of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party revolutionized the traditional system of constitutional amendment as they put principles of liberty and equality into higher law. Another wrenching transformation occurred during the Great Depression, when Franklin Roosevelt and his New Dealers vindicated a new vision of activist government against an assault by the Supreme Court. These are the crucial episodes in American constitutional history that Ackerman takes up in this second volume of a trilogy hailed as "one of the most important contributions to American constitutional thought in the last half-century" (Cass Sunstein, New Republic). In each case he shows how the American people--whether led by the Founding Federalists or the Lincoln Republicans or the Roosevelt Democrats--have confronted the Constitution in its moments of great crisis with dramatic acts of upheaval, always in the name of popular sovereignty. A thoroughly new way of understanding constitutional development, We the People: Transformations reveals how America's "dualist democracy" provides for these populist upheavals that amend the Constitution, often without formalities. The book also sets contemporary events, such as the Reagan Revolution and Roe v. Wade, in deeper constitutional perspective. In this context Ackerman exposes basic constitutional problems inherited from the New Deal Revolution and exacerbated by the Reagan Revolution, then considers the fundamental reforms that might resolve them. A bold challenge to formalist and fundamentalist views, this volume demonstrates that ongoing struggle over America's national identity, rather than consensus, marks its constitutional history.

The Partisan Republic

The Partisan Republic PDF Author: Gerald Leonard
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108650783
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
The Partisan Republic is the first book to unite a top down and bottom up account of constitutional change in the Founding era. The book focuses on the decline of the Founding generation's elitist vision of the Constitution and the rise of a more 'democratic' vision premised on the exclusion of women and non-whites. It incorporates recent scholarship on topics ranging from judicial review to popular constitutionalism to place judicial initiatives like Marbury vs Madison in a broader, socio-legal context. The book recognizes the role of constitutional outsiders as agents in shaping the law, making figures such as the Whiskey Rebels, Judith Sargent Murray, and James Forten part of a cast of characters that has traditionally been limited to white, male elites such as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Marshall. Finally, it shows how the 'democratic' political party came to supplant the Supreme Court as the nation's pre-eminent constitutional institution.

The Cambridge Companion to the Federalist Papers

The Cambridge Companion to the Federalist Papers PDF Author: Jack N. Rakove
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107136393
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 623

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Book Description
A multifaceted approach to The Federalist that covers both its historical value and its continuing political relevance.

The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787

The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 PDF Author: Gordon S. Wood
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 080789981X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 676

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Book Description
One of the half dozen most important books ever written about the American Revolution.--New York Times Book Review "During the nearly two decades since its publication, this book has set the pace, furnished benchmarks, and afforded targets for many subsequent studies. If ever a work of history merited the appellation 'modern classic,' this is surely one.--William and Mary Quarterly "[A] brilliant and sweeping interpretation of political culture in the Revolutionary generation.--New England Quarterly "This is an admirable, thoughtful, and penetrating study of one of the most important chapters in American history.--Wesley Frank Craven

The Revolutionary Constitution

The Revolutionary Constitution PDF Author: David J. Bodenhamer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019991303X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
The framers of the Constitution chose their words carefully when they wrote of a more perfect union--not absolutely perfect, but with room for improvement. Indeed, we no longer operate under the same Constitution as that ratified in 1788, or even the one completed by the Bill of Rights in 1791--because we are no longer the same nation. In The Revolutionary Constitution, David J. Bodenhamer provides a comprehensive new look at America's basic law, integrating the latest legal scholarship with historical context to highlight how it has evolved over time. The Constitution, he notes, was the product of the first modern revolution, and revolutions are, by definition, moments when the past shifts toward an unfamiliar future, one radically different from what was foreseen only a brief time earlier. In seeking to balance power and liberty, the framers established a structure that would allow future generations to continually readjust the scale. Bodenhamer explores this dynamic through seven major constitutional themes: federalism, balance of powers, property, representation, equality, rights, and security. With each, he takes a historical approach, following their changes over time. For example, the framers wrote multiple protections for property rights into the Constitution in response to actions by state governments after the Revolution. But twentieth-century courts--and Congress--redefined property rights through measures such as zoning and the designation of historical landmarks (diminishing their commercial value) in response to the needs of a modern economy. The framers anticipated just such a future reworking of their own compromises between liberty and power. With up-to-the-minute legal expertise and a broad grasp of the social and political context, this book is a tour de force of Constitutional history and analysis.

We the People

We the People PDF Author: Bruce Ackerman
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674736591
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Bruce Ackerman offers a sweeping reinterpretation of our nation’s constitutional experience and its promise for the future. Integrating themes from American history, political science, and philosophy, We the People confronts the past, present, and future of popular sovereignty in America. Only this distinguished scholar could present such an insightful view of the role of the Supreme Court. Rejecting arguments of judicial activists, proceduralists, and neoconservatives, Ackerman proposes a new model of judicial interpretation that would synthesize the constitutional contributions of many generations into a coherent whole. The author ranges from examining the origins of the dualist tradition in the Federalist Papers to reflecting upon recent, historic constitutional decisions. The latest revolutions in civil rights, and the right to privacy, are integrated into the fabric of constitutionalism. Today’s Constitution can best be seen as the product of three great exercises in popular sovereignty, led by the Founding Federalists in the 1780s, the Reconstruction Republicans in the 1860s, and the New Deal Democrats in the 1930s. Ackerman examines the roles played during each of these periods by the Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court. He shows that Americans have built a distinctive type of constitutional democracy, unlike any prevailing in Europe. It is a dualist democracy, characterized by its continuing effort to distinguish between two kinds of politics: normal politics, in which organized interest groups try to influence democratically elected representatives; and constitutional politics, in which the mass of citizens mobilize to debate matters of fundamental principle. Although American history is dominated by normal politics, our tradition places a higher value on mobilized efforts to gain the consent of the people to new governing principles. In a dualist democracy, the rare triumphs of constitutional politics determine the course of normal politics. More than a decade in the making, and the first of three volumes, We the People, Volume 1: Foundations speaks to all who seek to renew and redefine our civic commitments in the decades ahead.

America’s Forgotten Constitutions

America’s Forgotten Constitutions PDF Author: Robert L. Tsai
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674369432
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
The U.S. Constitution opens by proclaiming the sovereignty of all citizens: “We the People.” Robert Tsai’s gripping history of alternative constitutions invites readers into the circle of those who have rejected this ringing assertion—the defiant groups that refused to accept the Constitution’s definition of who “the people” are and how their authority should be exercised. America’s Forgotten Constitutions is the story of America as told by dissenters: squatters, Native Americans, abolitionists, socialists, internationalists, and racial nationalists. Beginning in the nineteenth century, Tsai chronicles eight episodes in which discontented citizens took the extraordinary step of drafting a new constitution. He examines the alternative Americas envisioned by John Brown (who dreamed of a republic purged of slavery), Robert Barnwell Rhett (the Confederate “father of secession”), and Etienne Cabet (a French socialist who founded a utopian society in Illinois). Other dreamers include the University of Chicago academics who created a world constitution for the nuclear age; the Republic of New Afrika, which demanded a separate country carved from the Deep South; and the contemporary Aryan movement, which plans to liberate America from multiculturalism and feminism. Countering those who treat constitutional law as a single tradition, Tsai argues that the ratification of the Constitution did not quell debate but kindled further conflicts over basic questions of power and community. He explains how the tradition mutated over time, inspiring generations and disrupting the best-laid plans for simplicity and order. Idealists on both the left and right will benefit from reading these cautionary tales.