Reconstructing the Commercial Republic

Constitutional Design after Madison

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Economic Policy, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century
Cover of the book Reconstructing the Commercial Republic by Stephen L. Elkin, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Stephen L. Elkin ISBN: 9780226294650
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: January 16, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Stephen L. Elkin
ISBN: 9780226294650
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: January 16, 2015
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

James Madison is the thinker most responsible for laying the groundwork of the American commercial republic. But he did not anticipate that the propertied class on which he relied would become extraordinarily politically powerful at the same time as its interests narrowed. This and other flaws, argues Stephen L. Elkin, have undermined the delicately balanced system he constructed. In Reconstructing the Commercial Republic, Elkin critiques the Madisonian system, revealing which of its aspects have withstood the test of time and which have not.

The deficiencies Elkin points out provide the starting point for his own constitutional theory of the republic—a theory that, unlike Madison’s, lays out a substantive conception of the public interest that emphasizes the power of institutions to shape our political, economic, and civic lives. Elkin argues that his theory should guide us toward building a commercial republic that is rooted in a politics of the public interest and the self-interest of the middle class. He then recommends specific reforms to create this kind of republic, asserting that Americans today can still have the lives a commercial republic is intended to promote: lives with real opportunities for economic prosperity, republican political self-government, and individual liberty.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

James Madison is the thinker most responsible for laying the groundwork of the American commercial republic. But he did not anticipate that the propertied class on which he relied would become extraordinarily politically powerful at the same time as its interests narrowed. This and other flaws, argues Stephen L. Elkin, have undermined the delicately balanced system he constructed. In Reconstructing the Commercial Republic, Elkin critiques the Madisonian system, revealing which of its aspects have withstood the test of time and which have not.

The deficiencies Elkin points out provide the starting point for his own constitutional theory of the republic—a theory that, unlike Madison’s, lays out a substantive conception of the public interest that emphasizes the power of institutions to shape our political, economic, and civic lives. Elkin argues that his theory should guide us toward building a commercial republic that is rooted in a politics of the public interest and the self-interest of the middle class. He then recommends specific reforms to create this kind of republic, asserting that Americans today can still have the lives a commercial republic is intended to promote: lives with real opportunities for economic prosperity, republican political self-government, and individual liberty.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book Black Studies, Rap, and the Academy by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Land Bridges by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Tinker to Evers to Chance by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Flawed System/Flawed Self by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book The Dune's Twisted Edge by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book In Search of a Lost Avant-Garde by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Music and Capitalism by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Organizations, Civil Society, and the Roots of Development by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Musings on Mortality by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2014 by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Alive in the Writing by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Animal Labor and Colonial Warfare by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book From Black Sox to Three-Peats by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book The Book of Barely Imagined Beings by Stephen L. Elkin
Cover of the book Urban Blues by Stephen L. Elkin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy