The Scepter of Reason Public Discussion and Political Radicalism in the Origins of Constitutionalism / by R. Gargarella.

It is not unusual that formal and informal discussions about the political system, its virtues, and its many defects, conclude in a discussion about impartiality. In fact, we all discuss impartiality when we talk about the best way to equally consider all viewpoints. We show our concerns with impart...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gargarella, R. (Author)
Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer, 2000.
Edition:1st ed. 2000.
Series:Law and Philosophy Library, 48
Springer eBook Collection.
Subjects:
Online Access:Click to view e-book
Holy Cross Note:Loaded electronically.
Electronic access restricted to members of the Holy Cross Community.
Table of Contents:
  • 1 Radicalism and Conservatism in England
  • The Authority of the People Outside the Parliament
  • The Crisis of Political Representation
  • The “Radical Societies” in England
  • The Radicals’ Epistemic View, and their Egalitarianism
  • The Radicals’ Institutional Proposals
  • The Conservative Challenge
  • When Thomas Paine Confronted Edmund Burke
  • 2 Radicalism and Populism in the U.S.
  • A Government for the Majority
  • Town Meetings and County Conventions 29 The Constitution of Pennsylvania: The Experiment of “Unchecked Majorities”
  • The Constitution of Pennsylvania in Motion
  • The “Critical Period” of American History
  • The Context of the Crisis
  • The Demand for Paper Money and Counter-Institutional Reactions
  • Institutional Responses to the Majority Claims
  • The Paper-Money Crisis in Rhode Island
  • The Critics of Radicalism/Populism
  • 3 The Conservative Reaction. James Madison: Institutional Reforms Against The Power of Factions
  • The Evolution of Madison’s Ideas of Factions. Earlier Approaches
  • Defining the “Vices of the Political System”
  • Analyzing the Madisonian Definition of Factions
  • Representation
  • Minorities
  • Checks and Balances
  • The Problems of the System of Checks and Balances
  • 4 The Conservative Reaction II. Defending the New Institutions in the Federal Convention
  • The “Conservative” Antifederalists
  • The Federalists
  • The North American Constitution and Epistemic Elitism
  • About Popular Assemblies and the House of Representatives
  • Some Basic Tools
  • The Executive
  • The Senate
  • The Judiciary
  • 5 The Conservative Model of Deliberation
  • Why Deliberation? What Kind of Deliberation?
  • The Elitist Character of the Conservative Model of Deliberation
  • Why Restricted Deliberation?
  • Radicalism and Public Deliberation
  • Why Public Deliberation?
  • Appendix Contemporary Political Institutions and Deliberation
  • The Possibility of Deliberation
  • The Judiciary and Public Dialogue
  • The Political Branches of Government and Deliberation
  • We the People and Interbranch Dialogue
  • Final Notes.