Political Theory

James Madison and the Extended Republic: Size, Republicanism, and Liberty in the Early Republic

ABSTRACT

This conference focused attention on the primary documents relating to James Madison’s theory of an extended republic. Is the idea of the extended republic consistent with liberty, for example? Are the checks of extensive representation sufficient to prevent an overconcentration of power in the national government? These are some of the essential questions addressed in this colloquium.

READING LIST

From Liberty Fund

In Defense of the Constitution

by By George W. Carey

In Defense of the Constitution argues that modern disciples of Progressivism who subtly distort fundamental principles of the Constitution are determined to centralize political control in Washington, D.C., to achieve their goal of an egalitarian national society. It is in their distrust of self-government and representative institutions that Progressivists advocate,…

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Additional Readings

Carey, George W. and James McClellan, eds. The Federalist, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2001.

Aristotle. The Politics of Aristotle. Edited by Ernest Barker. Translated by Ernest Barker. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1946.

Hamilton, Edith and Huntington Cairns. The Collected Dialogues of Plato Including the Letters. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.

Hume, David. Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary. Edited by Eugene F. Miller. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1985.