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Introduction: The Idea of Democracy
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11401 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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11 / 1986 |
565 Words |
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The overarching theme of the Modern Thought section this month is the basic principles of the American government viewed in historical perspective. Three of the contributors - Russell Kirk, George Carey, and Paul Edwards - examine the thought of one or more of the Founding Fathers from historiographically unconventional positions. Kirk explores some non-Lockean influences that went into the founders' understanding of republican government. He makes the argument that John Locke's materialist, atomistic conception of society was not at all basic to the establishment of the American regime. George W. Carey, in a detailed study that reflects a decade or more of research, shows that the American government has strayed far from the "separation of powers" intended by the drafters of the Constitution. He combines a close reading of the Constitution and the Federalist papers written to justify that achievement with a survey of later political developments.
Edwards defends the value of studying John Adams, one of the least appreciated of the Founding Fathers. Though a widely disliked critic of popular democracy in his age, Adams was a perceptive and learned commentator on republican institutions. He was also the author of the Massachusetts state constitution, which served as a model for, among other documents, the federal Constitution.
Four other essays - by Nisbet, Gold, Sherman, and Shapiro - examine the values and problems associated with democratic government in diffierent ages. Nisbet examines the emergence of a democratic ideal type in the work of Alexis de Tocqueville, who studied American society in the 1830s. According to Nisbet, Tocqueville began his study with a diligently thought-out but preconceived theory of modern democracy,
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