Description
Americans of all political stripes are becoming increasingly frustrated with the partisanship of present-day politics. Democrats and Republicans alike claim mandates on narrow margins of victory and are quick to condemn their opponents as enemies of the public good. The Framers of the Constitution understood that such divisions are rooted in the political factions inherent in democracy. Their solutions were federalism, the separation of powers, bicameralism, judicial review and other structural constraints on majority rule. Over the course of US history some of those constraints have been eroded as American politics have become more democratic and less respectful of the liberties and freedoms the Framers sought to protect. American Factions advocates for a renewed understanding of the problem of political factions and a restoration of the Constitution's limits to revive a politics of compromise and bipartisanship.
Table of Contents
Part I. The Curse of Faction: 1. A constitution for a divided nation; 2. A new nation of factions; 3. Political faction and civic virtue; 4. Causes of division; 5. The hazards of political faction; Part II. Remedies for the Curse of Faction; 6. The theoretical republic; 7. Controlling the representatives; 8. A legislature of enumerated powers; 9. An energetic executive of limited authority; 10. An independent judiciary; Part III. Democratization of the Republic: 11. From representation to democratization: political parties; 12. Democratization of American governments; Part IV. A Weakened Constitutional Structure: 13. Expansion of national power; 14. A porous wall of separation; 15. Judicial arrogations and concessions; Part V. A Republic, If We Can Keep It: 16. Where the Framers' design has faltered; 17. Where the Framers' design has worked; 18. Repairing and restoring the Framers' design; Epilogue.
