Exploring Madison’s greatest fear about the future of the Republic he did so much to shape: the problem of factions. As the convention at Philadelphia wrapped up on September 17, 1787 there was no fist-pumping. Benjamin Franklin was supposedly asked what sort of government the delegates had invented, a monarchy or a republic. The 81-year-old[…]
We can find important elements of Rousseau’s approach still alive and well in American politics and culture today. Abstract Near the conclusion of The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau starkly proclaims that no state has been founded without a religious basis, and thus if he is right, every political community must grapple with the tension between[…]
The elections of 1876, 1888, 1960 and 2000 were among the most contentious in American history. Introduction As states continue to count their ballots in the 2020 election, it seems possible that Democrats and Republicans will end up in court over whether President Trump will win a second term in the White House. President Trump[…]
The prerequisites for the emergence of a public sphere were increasing levels of literacy which was spurred on by the Reformation. Introduction The term public opinion was derived from the French opinion publique which was first used in 1588 by Michel de Montaigne in the second edition of his Essays (ch. XXII).[1] The French term[…]
Early voting periods are not remotely new to the 2020 election. First Presidential Election There are many historical examples of an election period as opposed to an election day. At the founding, there was no set national election day. The first presidential election started on Dec. 15, 1788, and ended almost a month later, on[…]
African Americans, women, Native Americans, and citizens between the ages of 18 and 21 had to fight for the right to vote in this country. The Founders and the Vote In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.” But how[…]
To begin, a disclaimer for this article: This is not an attempt to sanitise the legacy of the 45th President of the United States. Indeed, it’s telling that it would be much easier to publish a piece about 100 things Donald Trump has got wrong than it is to find five things he has got[…]
Kleroterion: This device was used for the jury selection system in Athens. Bronze identification tickets were inserted to indicate eligible jurors who were also divided into tribes. By a random process, a whole row would be accepted or rejected for jury service. There was a kleroteria in front of each court. / Photo by Marsyas,[…]
The Acropolis of Athens. Dominating the acropolis is the Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 BCE in the Age of Pericles, and dedicated to the city’s patron deity Athena. / Photo by Mark Cartwright, Creative Commons Ancient Athenians actively served in the institutions that governed them, and so they directly controlled all parts of the political process. By Mark Cartwright / 04.03.2018 Historian[…]
Adolf Hitler and his entourage take a stroll in Paris on June 23, 1940 / German Federal Archives, Wikimedia Commons Examining Adolf Hitler’s conceptualization of Nationalism – the Nation and who, in Hitler’s thinking, comprises it. By John Cai Benjamin Weaver / 05.16.2011 Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political and Economic Studies University of Helsinki Adolf[…]
Pottery ostraka identifying Themistocles, 482 BCE. These were used in Athens to vote a particular citizen to be ostracised from the polis. From a well on the north slope of the acropolis of Athens. (Museum of the Ancient Agora, Athens) / Photo by Mark Cartwright, Creative Commons Ostracism was the supreme example of the power of the ordinary people, the demos, to combat abuses of[…]
This great writer, great naturalist, and great advocate of self-reliant individualism was also one of the founding fathers of American libertarian thought. By Jeff Riggenbach / 07.15.2010 Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts, a small country town about 20 miles northwest of Boston. Nancy Rosenblum of the[…]
Ostraka for Ostracism / Museum of the Ancient Agora, Wikimedia Commons Although the Greek city-states differed in size and natural resources, they came to share certain fundamental political institutions and social traditions. By Dr. Thomas R. Martin Jeremiah W. O’Connor, Jr. Professor of Classics College of the Holy Cross Introduction Although the Greek city-states differed in[…]
Radical pamphleteer Thomas Paine advocated a republic: a state without a king. By Dr. P. Scott Corbett, et.al. Professor of History Ventura College Introduction While monarchies dominated eighteenth-century Europe, American revolutionaries were determined to find an alternative to this method of government. Radical pamphleteer Thomas Paine, whose enormously popular essay Common Sense was first published[…]
1952 Democratic Convention / Wikimedia Commons People gain an understanding and acceptance of the political culture of their nation through a process called political socialization. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 09.25.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Americans have strong positive feelings about the country’s flag. Government leaders and candidates giving speeches often are flanked by[…]
Political parties thrive when they are able to manage the media and effectively promote their candidates, leaders, and causes. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 09.22.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Political parties thrive when they are able to manage the media and effectively promote their candidates, leaders, and causes. Their goal is to use the[…]
History tells us that midterm elections are bad — sometimes very bad — for the party that controls the White House. By Don Gonyea / 10.30.2014 History tells us that midterm elections are bad — sometimes very bad — for the party that controls the White House. President Obama and the Democrats are pushing for[…]
The Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789, by Jean-Pierre Houël / Bibliothèque nationale de France, Wikimedia Commons Starting in the 1600s, European philosophers began debating the question of who should govern a nation. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 09.07.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Starting in the 1600s, European philosophers began debating the question of[…]
Pnyx hill in Athens by Qwqchris. / Wikimedia Commons In the matter of the dēmokratia (‘People-Power’) that the Greeks invented (the word as well as the thing) ancient Greece was a desperately foreign country – they did democracy very differently. By Dr. Paul Cartledge / 03.31.2016 A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture Emeritus University of Cambridge Some four decades[…]
Did the Roman arenas of political conflict support the common good? Trey Ratcliff/flickr, Creative Commons History offers countless examples of social change that is now consolidated and popularly supported, but which was only achieved through protests that were judged at the time to be extreme. By Dr. Sandra Leonie Field / 11.19.2015 Assistant Professor of Humanities (Philosophy) Yale-NUS College[…]
A 1969 photo of political theorist and scholar Hannah Arendt. AP Photo Hannah Arendt, a political theorist, fled Germany during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and later wrote about ‘the banality of evil.’ Her work has recently become a best-seller. Here’s why. By Dr. Kathleen B. Jones / 03.14.2017 Professor Emerita of Women’s Studies San Diego State University In the weeks since[…]
However you read The Prince, it is a reminder that the elementary condition of good government is effective government. By Dr. Stein Ringen / 03.04.2018 Professor of Sociology and Social Policy University of Oxford Is Machiavelli relevant today? Relevant, perhaps, but a democrat? Was he not the author of a book of tyranny? Perhaps not quite.[…]
The 33rd President of the United States of America, statesman Harry S Truman (1884 – 1972), waving from a train. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 03.17.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – Elections 1.1 – Types of Elections From the broad and general to the small and local, elections are[…]
Gordon County Courthouse in Calhoun, GA / Photo by Brent Moore, Creative Commons Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 03.12.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief The requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt has this vital role in our criminal procedure for cogent reasons. The accused, during a criminal prosecution, has at stake interests of immense importance,[…]
President Lyndon Johnson signs a gun-control law in 1968—passed with the N.R.A / Public Domain Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 03.09.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – Introduction 1.1 – Constitutional Right to Petition the Government The Supreme Court has ruled that petitioning the government by way of lobbying is protected by the Constitution as[…]
Photo by Stephen Melkisthenian, Flickr, Creative Commons Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 03.06.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – Defining Public Opinion 1.1 – Introduction Voter Poll: Voter polling questionnaire on display at the Smithsonian Institution Public opinion or Political opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public[…]
Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 02.25.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights 1.1 – The Bill of Rights 1.1.1 – Overview The Bill of Rights of the United States of American: The United States Bill of Rights, which are the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, and[…]
Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – Federalism in the Constitution 1.1 – Introduction Federalism is the system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units. It is based upon democratic rules and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between[…]
Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 02.14.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – Forms of Government Forms of government are categorized by the power source and power structure of any given state. 1.1 – Government and Its Forms Countries of the World, by Type of Government in 2011: This map shows all the countries of the word,[…]
Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 02.17.2018 Historian Breminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – The First American Government 1.1 – Government in the English Colonies The way the British government was run in the colonies inspired what the Americans would write in their Constitution. Parliament: Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1808–1879) being introduced in the House of Commons,[…]