Foundations Of American Political Thought

This collection of primary sources from the founding period covers the unique combination of theoretical influences in American political thought.

Foundations of American Political Thought: Readings and Commentary explains American historical concepts and key political ideas from 1620 to 1910. In this primer for democracy, all verbatim passages and original documents point to their original intentions and ideological movements. Key terms and basic terminology are incisive and essential for a thorough understanding of democracy. This book represents the setting and trends that produced sound progress in American political growth.

How do Americans think about foundational political questions? Covering the full span of U.S. history, American Political Thought: An Invitation offers a lively yet sophisticated overview of the nature and dynamics of American Political Thought for students and general readers alike. Award-winning scholar Ken Kersch’s engaging introduction situates the key debates in their historical, political and cultural context. He introduces the touchstone frameworks and ideas that are both deeply ingrained and yet have been actively re-made in a country that has spent 250 years of shifting circumstances battling over their real-world implications. Covering thinkers ranging from Jefferson to Rawls, Du Bois to Audre Lorde, he examines the ambiguities of the purportedly ‘consensus’ American principles of liberty, equality, and democracy as well as addressing questions ranging from ‘What are the foundations of a legitimate political order?’ and ‘What is the appropriate role of government?’ to ‘What are the appropriate terms of full civic membership ?’ - and beyond. Politically balanced and inclusive, American Political Thought introduces the contested terrain concerning these core political questions as they were raised over the course of the USA’s often dramatic history.

This book provides a descriptive analysis and critical discussion of the origins, development, and interrelationships of American political ideas against the background of the birth, growth, and crises of the republic and the major historical movements of thought. Main emphasis is on the idea of constitutionalism and related concepts of higher law, liberty, justice, equality, democracy and the balanced state, as well as underlying notions of human nature, motivation, and behavior.

'American Political Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History' is a fascinating analysis of the evolution of American politics in relation to the wider context of political history. In three lectures delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in May 1880, John Fiske explores the development of American government, tracing its lineage from the town-meetings of New England to the leagues of Greek cities and Swiss cantons. Fiske argues that the success of American politics can be measured by its ability to balance local and individual freedom with peaceful concerted action, a problem that has faced civilization since its inception.

Political Thought in America is based on the idea that there are three major languages or traditions of discourse that Americans have employed to interpret the national experience: biblical thought, republicanism, and liberalism, interpreted through the lens of two other languagesconservatism and radicalism. The authors engaging style brings the American political experience to life with clarity and vision, immersing readers into the politics surrounding eleven great crises in our nations history. Through the eyes of philosophers, writers, and orators of each period and the voices of commentators both historical and current, political theories are outlined in the context of the debates and conversations of the men and women who have struggled to extricate the nation from crisis. New to the fourth edition are an analysis of the impact of Barack Obama on contemporary American political discourse, recent developments in the war on terror, and a section on gay and lesbian protest. A new chapter has been added that discusses the phenomenon of globalization and its challenge to American exceptionalism. As in previous editions, each chapter ends with an insightful author commentary and contains an up-to-date and comprehensive bibliographical essay, along with a list of major works for each period.

In this distinguished work Arnold Brecht, who served under more than a dozen German Chancellors and whose work in defense of democracy received recognition by the Adenauer government in 1953, surveys the philosophical and scientific foundations of political theory in the twentieth century. His wide-ranging treatise sweeps over the entire scope of this century's contributions, including the philosophical, juridical, scientific, sociological, methodological, and historical. The book is a pioneering effort toward an integrated presentation, a first attempt to offer a comprehensive modern political theory. The aim is both a systematic presentation and a full description of the recent genesis of thought. The pertinent teachings of representative writers-some from the past (from Hume and Kant to Darwin, Mill, and Marx) and most of the present century (from Peirce, James, Simmel, and Weber to Husserl, Dewey, Lasswell, Northrop, and Fuller) are analyzed. Dr. Brecht incorporates, chapter by chapter, his own contributions. Social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, and students of religion will find it a challenging guide, written with penetrating clarity and rich in fruitful suggestions. Originally published in 1959. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Quentin Skinner's classic study The Foundations of Modern Political Thought was first published by Cambridge in 1978. This was the first of a series of outstanding publications that have changed forever the way the history of political thought is taught and practised. Rethinking the Foundations of Modern Political Thought looks afresh at the impact of the original work, asks why it still matters, and considers a number of significant agendas that it still inspires. A very distinguished international team of contributors has been assembled, including John Pocock, Richard Tuck and David Armitage, and the result is an unusually powerful and cohesive contribution to the history of ideas, of interest to large numbers of students of early modern history and political thought. In conclusion, Skinner replies to each chapter and presents his own thoughts on the latest trends and the future direction of the history of political thought.