dc.contributor.author | Akard, Patrick J. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2009-05-19T18:46:26Z | |
dc.date.available | 2009-05-19T18:46:26Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2002-04-01 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Social Thought and Research, Volume 25, Number 1&2 (2002), pp. 175-189 http://dx.doi.org/10.17161/STR.1808.5193 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1808/5193 | |
dc.description.abstract | 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. | |
dc.language.iso | en | |
dc.publisher | Department of Sociology, University of Kansas | |
dc.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. | |
dc.title | In Search of Civic Virtue : On the Use of the Founders in Political Discourse | |
dc.type | Article | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.17161/STR.1808.5193 | |
dc.rights.accessrights | openAccess | |