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James Madison presented his most celebrated and studied political
ideas in his contributions to The Federalist, the essays that he,
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote in 1787-1788 to secure
ratification of the U.S. Constitution. As Jack N. Rakove shows in A
Politician Thinking, however, those essays do not illustrate the
full complexity and vigor of Madison's thinking. In this book,
Rakove pushes beyond what Madison thought to examine how he
thought, showing that this founder's political genius lay less in
the content of his published writings than in the ways he turned
his creative mind to solving real political problems. Rakove begins
his analysis by examining how Madison drew upon his experiences as
a member of the Continental Congress and as a Virginia legislator
to develop his key ideas. Madison sought to derive lessons of
history from his reading and his own experience, but he also
thought about politics in terms of what we now recognize as game
theory. After discussing Madison's approach to the challenge of
constitutional change, Rakove emphasizes his strikingly modern
understanding of legislative deliberation, which he treated as the
defining problem of republican government. Rakove also addresses
Madison's deliberation about ways to protect the rights of
individuals and political minorities from the rule of ""factious
majorities."" The book closes by tracing how Madison developed
strategies for maintaining long-term constitutional stability and
adjusting to the new realities of governance under the
Constitution. Engaging and accessible, A Politician Thinking offers
new insight concerning a key constitutional thinker and the
foundations of the American constitutional system. Having a more
thorough understanding of how Madison solved the problems presented
in the formation of that system, we better grasp a unique moment of
political innovation.
In the wake of the 2000 Election, the relationship between the
Supreme Court and the American states has become more important.
Once derided by the Supreme Court as a 'truism, ' the Tenth
Amendment has in recent years been transformed from a neglected
provision into a vital 'first principle.' As such, it has provided
the foundation for a series of decisions in which the Supreme Court
has elevated the status of the states, often at the expense of
federal power and in the face of previously settled assumptions. In
this important volume, four prominent scholars--two historians and
two law professors--examine carefully one of the central tenets in
the Supreme Court's recent Tenth Amendment jurisprudence: the
assumption that the results fashioned by a narrow majority are
compelled by history and consistent with the intentions of the
framers. They shed important new light on a series of decisions
that mark a major change in our thinking about the nature of a
constitutional system within which both the federal government and
the states properly regard themselves as sovereign entities
This interdisciplinary volume focuses on constitutional democracy, with special reference to the United States. The editors and contributors conceive of a constitutionalism as an ongoing process in which most members of a given community rely on certain cultural norms and practices to identify and interpret constitutional rules (written or unwritten as the case may be) that limit government power, and divide it among competing groups of leaders such that no single group has unchecked authority to pass statutes or to interpret the constitution when disputes arise.
The eighty-five Federalist essays written by Alexander Hamilton,
John Jay, and James Madison as 'Publius' to support the
ratification of the Constitution in 1787-88 are regarded as the
preeminent American contribution to Western political theory.
Recently, there have been major developments in scholarship on the
Revolutionary and Founding era as well as increased public interest
in constitutional matters that make this a propitious moment to
reflect on the contributions and complexity of The Federalist. This
volume of specially commissioned essays covers the broad scope of
'Publius' work, including historical, political, philosophical,
juridical, and moral dimensions. In so doing, they bring the design
and arguments of the text into focus for twenty-first century
scholars, students, and citizens and show how these diverse
treatments of The Federalist are associated with an array of
substantive political and constitutional perspectives in our own
time.
Here in a newly annotated edition are the two founding documents of
the United States of America: the Declaration of Independence
(1776), our great revolutionary manifesto, and the Constitution
(1787-88), in which "We the People" forged a new nation and built
the framework for our federal republic. Together with the Bill of
Rights and the Civil War amendments, these documents constitute
what James Madison called our "political scriptures" and have come
to define us as a people. Now a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
serves as a guide to these texts, providing historical contexts and
offering interpretive commentary. In an introductory essay written
for the general reader, Jack N. Rakove provides a narrative
political account of how these documents came to be written. In his
commentary on the Declaration of Independence, Rakove sets the
historical context for a fuller appreciation of the important
preamble and the list of charges leveled against the Crown. When he
glosses the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the subsequent
amendments, Rakove once again provides helpful historical
background, targets language that has proven particularly difficult
or controversial, and cites leading Supreme Court cases. A
chronology of events provides a framework for understanding the
road to Philadelphia. The general reader will not find a better,
more helpful guide to our founding documents than Jack N. Rakove.
Originally published in 1982. Despite a necessary preoccupation
with the Revolutionary struggle, America's Continental Congress
succeeded in establishing itself as a governing body with
national-and international-authority. How the Congress acquired and
maintained this power and how the delegates sought to resolve the
complex theoretical problems that arose in forming a federal
government are the issues confronted in Jack N. Rakove's searching
reappraisal of Revolution-era politics. Avoiding the tendency to
interpret the decisions of the Congress in terms of competing
factions or conflicting ideologies, Rakove opts for a more
pragmatic view. He reconstructs the political climate of the
Revolutionary period, mapping out both the immediate problems
confronting the Congress and the available alternatives as
perceived by the delegates. He recreates a landscape littered with
unfamiliar issues, intractable problems, unattractive choices, and
partial solutions, all of which influenced congressional decisions
on matters as prosaic as military logistics or as abstract as the
definition of federalism.
James Madison presented his most celebrated and studied political
ideas in his contributions to The Federalist, the essays that he,
Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote in 1787 - 1788 to secure
ratification of the U.S. Constitution. As Jack N. Rakove shows in A
Politician Thinking, however, those essays do not illustrate the
full complexity and vigor of Madison's thinking. In this book,
Rakove pushes beyond what Madison thought to examine how he
thought, showing that this founder's political genius lay less in
the content of his published writings than in the ways he turned
his creative mind to solving real political problems. Rakove begins
his analysis by examining how Madison drew upon his experiences as
a member of the Continental Congress and as a Virginia legislator
to develop his key ideas. Madison sought to derive lessons of
history from his reading and his own experience, but he also
thought about politics in terms of what we now recognize as game
theory. After discussing Madison's approach to the challenge of
constitutional change, Rakove emphasizes his strikingly modern
understanding of legislative deliberation, which he treated as the
defining problem of republican government. Rakove also addresses
Madison's deliberation about ways to protect the rights of
individuals and political minorities from the rule of 'factious
majorities.' The book closes by tracing how Madison developed
strategies for maintaining long-term constitutional stability and
adjusting to the new realities of governance under the
Constitution. Engaging and accessible, A Politician Thinking offers
new insight concerning a key constitutional thinker and the
foundations of the American constitutional system. Having a more
thorough understanding of how Madison solved the problems presented
in the formation of that system, we better grasp a unique moment of
political innovation.
This interdisciplinary volume focuses on constitutional democracy, with special reference to the United States. The editors and contributors conceive of a constitutionalism as an ongoing process in which most members of a given community rely on certain cultural norms and practices to identify and interpret constitutional rules (written or unwritten as the case may be) that limit government power, and divide it among competing groups of leaders such that no single group has unchecked authority to pass statutes or to interpret the constitution when disputes arise.
The eighty-five Federalist essays written by Alexander Hamilton,
John Jay, and James Madison as 'Publius' to support the
ratification of the Constitution in 1787-88 are regarded as the
preeminent American contribution to Western political theory.
Recently, there have been major developments in scholarship on the
Revolutionary and Founding era as well as increased public interest
in constitutional matters that make this a propitious moment to
reflect on the contributions and complexity of The Federalist. This
volume of specially commissioned essays covers the broad scope of
'Publius' work, including historical, political, philosophical,
juridical, and moral dimensions. In so doing, they bring the design
and arguments of the text into focus for twenty-first century
scholars, students, and citizens and show how these diverse
treatments of The Federalist are associated with an array of
substantive political and constitutional perspectives in our own
time.
In this inaugural volume of the Alexis de Tocqueville Lectures,
political scientist James Ceaser traces the way certain ideas,
including nature, history, and religion--which he calls
foundational ideas--have been understood and used by statesmen and
public intellectuals over the course of American history, from the
Puritans to the current day. Ceaser treats these ideas not as pure
concepts of philosophy or theology, but rather as elements of
political discourse that provide the ground or ultimate appeal for
other political ideas, such as liberty or equality. At times, they
have critically influenced the course of American political
development, offering various opportunities and constraints for
political leaders. Ceaser traces the histories of these ideas and
their relation to other ideas, to practices, and to the fortunes of
successive partisan regimes.
Three critical commentators--historian Jack Rakove and
political theorists Nancy Rosenblum and Rogers Smith--challenge
Ceaser's arguments in several ways. They suggest that other ideas
may be considered foundational, and they prod him to clarify
further how foundational ideas work politically. Ceaser responds
with vigor, and the result is a spirited debate about large and
enduring questions in American politics.
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