No Class: May 2

As citizens lose trust in governmental institutions, debates in the Federalist papers over ratification of the Constitution offer insights about fundamental principles at the heart of the U.S. system. The framers understood that democracies were unstable, but believed that humans could use reason to create structures to constrain the worst instincts of rulers and the ruled. The Federalist papers were, first and foremost, political propaganda that frequently ascribed virtues to decisions that had very little virtue about them, and they promoted institutions—federalism, a president, an independent Supreme Court—that had never been imagined before. Nevertheless, the writings of these brilliant politicians offer insights into how a well-ordered democracy could work, despite substantial odds against its success.

In addition to the key Federalist texts, readings will include excerpts from the anti-Federalists, Madison’s Notes on the Constitutional Convention, and commentary by noted constitutional scholars. The writings of Madison, Jay, and Hamilton have the status of “sacred texts,” but we will read them as examples of shrewd political analysis and persuasion that can help us understand the nation’s current discontents.