In Search of Civic Virtue : On the Use of the Founders in Political Discourse

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Issue Date
2002-04-01Author
Akard, Patrick J.
Publisher
Department of Sociology, University of Kansas
Type
Article
Rights
Copyright (c) Social Thought and Research. For rights questions please contact Editor, Department of Sociology, Social Thought and Research, Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045.
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This essay examines three competing interpretations of the Founding Fathers that were made in the contested political climate of the 1980s. The first is Marc Plattner s neoclassical economic interpretation that stresses Madisonian principles of law, property rights, and the danger of majoritarian rule to justify a minimal rule-based government and free market capitalism. The second is Robert Bellah s communitariandemocratic interpretation, which appeals to the Founders and our republican traditions to critique excessive individualism and advance a more democratic politics governed by the norms of civic virtue. The third approach considered is the anti-Federalist critique of the Founders by Sheldon Wolin, who sees in the Constitution the beginnings of a system of national capitalism and state power that undermined localized and democratic political culture. Each approach will be assessed for its contribution toward a more participatory notion of public life.
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Citation
Social Thought and Research, Volume 25, Number 1&2 (2002), pp. 175-189 http://dx.doi.org/10.17161/STR.1808.5193
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