The Dialogic Community: Education, Leadership, and Partcipation in James Madison's Thought

1990 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-63
Author(s):  
Bradley Kent Carter ◽  
Joseph F. Kobylka
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Education Leadership ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Public Dialogue ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Federalist Papers

Some interpretations of James Madison tend to treat him as an enemy of “community,” or as indifferent to that concept. These interpretations also tend to base their argument on selected readings from theFederalist Papers. This approach is mistaken because it relies on a part of the Madisonian corpus to define the whole of the Virginian's thought. This mistake leads to a distortion of Madison's treatment of community. Close scrutiny of Madison's life, letters, and essays reveals a theorist-politician committed to building and nurturing community in the new United States, a community linked across time and miles by shared values, common institutions, and ongoing public dialogue.

scholarly journals Book Review | George Will’s Conservatism and Democracy in Crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
James Madison ◽  
American Government ◽  
Federalist Papers ◽  
The Federalist ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Federalist Papers

Americans typically view the United States as a democracy and are rightly proud of that. Of course, as those of a more precise nature, along with smug college students enrolled in introductory American government classes, are quick to point out, the United States is technically a republic. This is a bit too clever by half since James Madison, in The Federalist Papers, defined a republic the way most people think of a democracy—a system of representative government with elections: “[The]… difference between a Democracy and a Republic are, first the delegation of the Government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest.” What the framers thought of as democracy is today referred to as direct democracy, the belief that citizens should have more direct control over governing. The Athenian assembly was what the framers, Madison in particular, saw as the paragon of direct democracy—and as quite dangerous. While direct democracy has its champions, most Americans equate democracy with electing officials to do the business of government.

scholarly journals Rule by the Few in the Federalist Papers: An Examination of the Aristocratic Preference of Publius

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl M. Felice
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
American People ◽  
Alexander Hamilton ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Federalist Papers ◽  
The Federalist ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Federalist Papers

AbstractThe Federalist Papers are a set of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay during the founding era of the United States, with the purpose of persuading the states to adopt the Constitution as the replacement for the Articles of Confederation. The Papers were some of the most impressive political writings of the time, and are still cited frequently today by the United States Supreme Court. The arguments set forth in the Papers attempted to defend the Constitution's aristocratic characteristics against its opponents, the Anti-Federalists, while also attempting to normalize an anti-democratic, representative form of government in the minds of the American people. The clever advocacy and skillful rhetoric employed by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay led to the eventual ratification of the Constitution, and consequently the creation of the most powerful and prosperous nation on the planet. This paper examines the differences between the traditional forms of government, the political philosophies of the Papers’ authors, the anti-democratic, aristocratic nature of the government proposed by the Constitution, and the arguments for and against its adoption, as articulated in the Papers and various other writings.

A Manipulative Jurisprudence: Unprincipled and Expedient Reasoning

2020 ◽  
pp. 137-162
Author(s):  
Edward A. Jr. Purcell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Voting Rights Act ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Federalist Papers ◽  
First Case ◽  
Military Contractors ◽  
Shelby County ◽  
Eleventh Amendment

This chapter offers a more detailed analysis of some of Justice Antonin Scalia’s most striking inconsistencies. Its first section addresses Scalia’s use of James Madison as a principal and particularly prestigious originalist source, especially his essays in the Federalist Papers. The chapter examines in particular his inconsistent uses of Madison’s writings in such cases as United States v. Windsor and Morrison v. Olson and in his attitude toward affirmative action and Madison’s idea of the “extended republic” in his decisions on the Eleventh Amendment. The chapter shows that he used Madison when his writings supported Scalia’s own views but ignored him when they contradicted those views. The chapter’s second section examines two of Scalia’s most dubious actions on the Court, joining the five-justice conservative majority in Shelby County v. Holder and writing a deeply flawed opinion for the Court in Boyle v. United Technologies. The chapter argues that the two cases show Scalia at his most inconsistent, contradictory, and willful in serving his ideological and political goals, in the first case voiding a critical provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and in the second expanding federal common law to protect military contractors from tort suits.

Abraham Maslow, Utopian Realist

2021 ◽  
pp. 002216782110076
Author(s):  
Nadine Weidman
Keyword(s):  
Linear Systems ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
Important Lesson ◽  
Abraham Maslow ◽  
Human Community ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Non Linear Systems ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Ideal

The ideal human community or “Eupsychia” envisioned by Abraham Maslow was a place inhabited by a thousand “self-actualizing people” who shared a devotion to certain higher values. These values were, for Maslow, universally human and biologically rooted, and they included truth, beauty, justice, and the ability to become the best that one was capable of becoming. In addition to imagining it, Maslow searched for Eupsychia in reality and thought he had found it in three California locations: Non-Linear Systems, a technology company; Synanon, a drug rehab center; and Esalen, a hippie retreat. Despite its dependence on shared values, for Maslow Eupsychia was not a perfect place, either in his imagination or in reality, and he realized that its inhabitants would need ways to confront strife and deal with their differences. I suggest that his utopian realism contains an important lesson for our own highly divided 21st-century American society.

The Federalist Papers

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Alexander Hamilton ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
National Unity ◽  
The Federalist ◽  
The Federalist Papers

The Federalist is widely considered to be one of the most influential political writings in the early United States. Consisting of eighty-five essays in total, the first seventy-seven essays were originally published in New York newspapers between October 1787 and April 1788, and the final eight appeared in the first collected edition of The Federalist in 1788, although they were later republished in New York newspapers as well. The Federalist was written collectively by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote the ratification of the newly drafted Constitution. In keeping with the conventions of 18th-century public political debate, The Federalist was published under the pseudonym “Publius” to present its arguments to the public in anonymous terms, focusing attention on the content of the essays rather than the personal views or personalities of the authors. Although Hamilton, Madison, and Jay would not be formally identified as the authors of The Federalist until the publication of a notice in The Port-Folio on 14 November 1807, their collective authorship was widely known by the 1790s, and their reputations as respected statesmen and innovative political thinkers brought considerable attention and credibility to their arguments. Through the voice of Publius, The Federalist explains and defends the core principles and structure of the new government outlined within the Constitution, while also identifying the flaws and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. In doing so, The Federalist provides substantive critical and philosophical discussions of federal governance and its relationship to the principles of plural sovereignty, national unity, republican representation, citizenship, national security, commercial interests, and the separation of powers, all of which had a profound influence, not just on the ratification debates, but also on subsequent interpretations of constitutional language and authority, from the founding period to the present. While scholars have endlessly debated the political, historical, philosophical, literary, and cultural impact of The Federalist, these essays continue to serve as foundational texts for studying the politics and culture of the early United States, as well as contemporary interpretations and revisions of constitutional principles in legal, legislative, and cultural spheres.

scholarly journals Nonprofits and the Promotion of Civic Engagement: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the "Civic Footprint" of Nonprofits within Local Communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheal L. Shier ◽  
Lindsey McDougle ◽  
Femida Handy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Community Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Education And Awareness

ABSTRACT   The literature suggests that nonprofit organizations provide civic benefits by promoting engagement within local communities. However, there exists minimal empirical evidence describing the ways in which nonprofits actually undertake this role. In order to address this omission, we conducted interviews with personnel of nonprofit organizations in one rural community in the United States. Our preliminary findings indicate that nonprofit organizations promote civic engagement through programs and activities that: 1) engage volunteers and donors; 2) bring community members together; 3) collaborate with organizations within and beyond the community; and 4) promote community education and awareness. Together, these findings help to develop a working model to understand the civic footprint of nonprofit organizations with methodological implications for future research that would seek to measure the extent to which nonprofits promote civic engagement. Il est normal de supposer que les associations à but non lucratif favorisent l’engagement du citoyen dans les communautés locales. Cependant, il existe peu de données empiriques sur la manière dont ces associations assument véritablement ce rôle. Pour combler ce manque, nous avons mené des entretiens semi-directifs approfondis auprès du personnel d’associations à but non lucratif dans une petite communauté rurale aux États-Unis. Nos résultats préliminaires indiquent que ces associations motivent les citoyens à s’impliquer quand elles offrent des programmes et des activités qui : 1) intéressent les bénévoles et les donateurs; 2) rassemblent directement ou indirectement les membres de la communauté; 3) collaborent avec d’autres associations tant au sein de la communauté qu’au-delà de celle-ci; et 4) encouragent l’éducation et la conscientisation communautaires. Ces constats aident à établir un modèle pour mieux comprendre la présence civique des associations à but non lucratif dans les communautés et indiquent une piste à suivre pour des recherches futures qui examineraient l’influence de ces associations sur le niveau de participation civique.

1. Words, images, meanings

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
R. B. Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
Benjamin Franklin ◽  
Alexander Hamilton ◽  
James Madison ◽  
George Washington ◽  
John Adams ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Continental Congress

The phrase “founding fathers” is central to how Americans talk about politics, and “Words, images, meanings” describes when the phrase was first coined, what it really means, and how artists have depicted the “founding fathers”—those who helped to found the United States as a nation and a political experiment. This group has two subsets. First are the Signers, delegates to the Second Continental Congress, who in July 1776 declared American independence and signed the Declaration of Independence. Second are the Framers, the delegates to the Federal Convention who in 1787 framed the United States Constitution. They include Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

The Closing of the Constitution

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (03) ◽  
pp. 861-866
Author(s):  
Kevin Arlyck
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
American Constitution ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Federalist Papers ◽  
Late Eighteenth Century ◽  
Late Eighteenth

Anyone who picks up a recent volume of the United States Reports or a prominent legal journal will be sure to find judges and lawyers debating, in agonizing detail, the meaning of a particular word or phrase in the Constitution. Marshaling late-eighteenth century dictionaries and legal treatises, records of debates from the drafting and ratifying conventions, and well-thumbed copies of the Federalist Papers, modern constitutional interlocutors will scrutinize text, structure, and history to discern an inherent logic. Above all, although disputants will endlessly contest what a particular provision means, they largely agree on what the Constitution itself is: as Jonathan Gienapp puts it in The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era, “an artifact circumscribed in time and space,” the “fixed Constitution” that we have been collectively dissecting since the late 1780s (10).

The Early Episodes: 1794–1914

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Riley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Irish Potato ◽  
Foreign Country ◽  
Food Aid ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
James Madison ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
The Government ◽  
Potato Famine ◽  
Irish Potato Famine

Even while attempting to avoid “entangling alliances,” the elected officials of the newly formed United States were, as early as 1794, debating whether the government should provide economic aid to destitute residents of a foreign country. Congressman James Madison argued that the Constitution contained no authority allowing it. Others argued that it was not the intention of the founding fathers to prevent such acts of benevolence. For 120 years these arguments would be resurrected whenever a major calamity threatened innocent foreign residents with hunger and famine. Only occasionally would assistance be provided. Much more often, as with the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, there would be no provision of food aid to prevent starvation.

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