Communitarianism is currently the subject of much interest and scrutiny by both liberals and conservatives. In Community and Tradition, eight distinguished scholars articulate the clearest statement to date of the conservative vision of community. In contrast to the progressive model of community, which emphasizes secular civil theologies, government, participatory democracy, and utilitarian moralities, the contributors to this volume identify and locate the roots of friendship and common purpose in tradition, intermediate associations, local autonomy, and religious belief. Not only do the contributors renew and refine the conservative understanding of community, but they also express their belief that the liberal version of community needs to be challenged. This volume is essential reading for all political theorists who study the balance between rights and responsibilities within the context of the community.

"The American Nation: Primary Sources "resumes the narrative begun in its companion volume, "The American Republic" which covered the first eight decades of U.S. history, ending at the onset of the Civil War. "The American Nation" continues the story through America's entrance into World War II.
"The American Nation" makes available, in one volume, many of the most crucial documents necessary for understanding the variety of policies and viewpoints driving American public life during an important, substantive part of American history. The primary sources in "The American Nation" are relevant to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the rise of a national capitalist system and culture, the waves of reform-minded thought and policy that moved the nation toward formation of the national administrative and welfare states, and America's emergence as a major power on the world stage. This period was a watershed in the history of the nation--the time of establishing and consolidating national power and laying the foundations of a national government committed to promoting the material well-being of Americans. It was an era that witnessed the development of the nation-state and the establishment of the New Deal regime, which set the stage for the radical social movements of the 1960s and beyond.
For decades debates have raged concerning the nature and impact of post-Civil War Reconstruction, as well as the major popular legal and ideological movements shaping the United States during the period up to World War II. This critical era encompassed the rise of mass-market corporatism and America's entry into world politics. Recent social history has uncovered a great deal of information regarding the daily lives of Americans during this era. Of equal importance is an in-depth study of the public documents critical for an understanding of the effects of public acts and pronouncements on Americans. This volume will allow students and readers to readily engage, without interpretation, the original historical documents that have shaped the history of American public life.
Some of the primary documents include the Emancipation Proclamation, the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Monroe Doctrine. Some of the authors featured include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jefferson Davis, Robert LaFollette, Eugene Debs, Jane Addams, William Graham Sumner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Booker T. Washington, among many others.
Bruce P. Frohnen is Associate Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University College of Law. He holds a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law and a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University.

Many reference works offer compilations of critical documents covering individual liberty, local autonomy, constitutional order, and other issues that helped to shape the American political tradition. Yet few of those works are available in a form suitable for classroom use, and traditional textbooks give short shrift to these important issues."The American Republic" overcomes that knowledge gap by providing, in a single volume, critical, original documents revealing the character of American discourse on the nature and importance of local government, the purposes of federal union, and the role of religion and tradition in forming America's drive for liberty."The American Republic" is divided into nine sections, each illustrating major philosophical, cultural, and policy positions at issue during crucial eras of American development. Readers will find documentary evidence of the purposes behind European settlement, American response to English acts, the pervasive role of religion in early American public life, and perspectives in the debate over independence.Subsequent chapters examine the roots of American constitutionalism, Federalist and Anti-Federalist arguments concerning the need to protect common law rights, and the debates over whether the states or the federal government held final authority in determining the course of public policy in America. Also included are the discussions regarding disagreements over internal improvements and other federal measures aimed at binding the nation, particularly in the area of commerce.The final section focuses on the political, cultural, and legal issues leading to the Civil War. Arguments and attempted compromises regarding slavery, along with laws that helped shape slavery, are highlighted. The volume ends with the prelude to the Civil War, a natural stopping-off point for studies of early American history.By bringing together key original documents and other writings that explain cultural, religious, and historical concerns, this volume gives students, teachers, and general readers an effective way to begin examining the diversity of issues and influences that characterize American history. The result unquestionably leads to a deeper and more thorough understanding of America's political, institutional, and cultural continuity and change.Bruce P. Frohnen is Associate Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University College of Law. He holds a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law and a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University.
Click here to print or download "The American Republic" index.

"The American Nation: Primary Sources "resumes the narrative begun in its companion volume, "The American Republic" which covered the first eight decades of U.S. history, ending at the onset of the Civil War. "The American Nation" continues the story through America's entrance into World War II.
"The American Nation" makes available, in one volume, many of the most crucial documents necessary for understanding the variety of policies and viewpoints driving American public life during an important, substantive part of American history. The primary sources in "The American Nation" are relevant to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the rise of a national capitalist system and culture, the waves of reform-minded thought and policy that moved the nation toward formation of the national administrative and welfare states, and America's emergence as a major power on the world stage. This period was a watershed in the history of the nation--the time of establishing and consolidating national power and laying the foundations of a national government committed to promoting the material well-being of Americans. It was an era that witnessed the development of the nation-state and the establishment of the New Deal regime, which set the stage for the radical social movements of the 1960s and beyond.
For decades debates have raged concerning the nature and impact of post-Civil War Reconstruction, as well as the major popular legal and ideological movements shaping the United States during the period up to World War II. This critical era encompassed the rise of mass-market corporatism and America's entry into world politics. Recent social history has uncovered a great deal of information regarding the daily lives of Americans during this era. Of equal importance is an in-depth study of the public documents critical for an understanding of the effects of public acts and pronouncements on Americans. This volume will allow students and readers to readily engage, without interpretation, the original historical documents that have shaped the history of American public life.
Some of the primary documents include the Emancipation Proclamation, the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Monroe Doctrine. Some of the authors featured include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jefferson Davis, Robert LaFollette, Eugene Debs, Jane Addams, William Graham Sumner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Booker T. Washington, among many others.
Bruce P. Frohnen is Associate Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University College of Law. He holds a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law and a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University.

In recent years, our constitutional order has increasingly come under attack as irredeemably undemocratic, racist, and oppressive. At the same time, it is increasingly obvious that political practices in the United States have strayed very far from the founders' designs and become deeply dysfunctional. The time is thus ripe for renewed reflection about the American political tradition. This volume reintroduces readers to the conservative tradition of political and constitutional discourse. It brings together prominent political scientists and legal scholars, all of whom were deeply influenced by the life and work of the eminent constitutional scholar George W. Carey. For over 40 years, Carey strove mightily to explain the nature and requirements of our political tradition. How it fostered meaningful, virtuous self-government, and how our constitutional tradition has been derailed by progressivist ideology. He is perhaps best known for his concept of "constitutional morality," the understanding that our republican constitutional order can be sustained only by a combination of formal mechanisms (e.g., separation of powers) and unwritten norms ("standards of behavior") that act to foster deliberation and consensus, as well as keep political actors within the boundaries of their constitutional offices.