James Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government

In the first study that combines an in-depth examination of Madison's National Gazette essays of 1791-92 with a study of The Federalist, Colleen Sheehan traces the evolution of Madison's conception of the politics of communication and public opinion throughout the Founding period, demonstrating how "the sovereign public" would form and rule in America. Contrary to those scholars who claim that Madison dispensed with the need to form an active and virtuous citizenry, Sheehan argues that Madison's vision for the new nation was informed by the idea of republican self-government, whose manifestation he sought to bring about in the spirit and way of life of the American people. Madison's story is "the story of an idea" - the idea of America.

Author: Colleen A. Sheehan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 02/01/2009
Pages: 226
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780521727334

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2010

About the Author
Sheehan, Colleen A.: - Colleen A. Sheehan is Associate Professor of Political Science at Villanova University and has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She is the co-editor of Friends of the Constitution: Writings of the Other Federalists 1787-1788 and author of numerous articles on the American Founding and eighteenth-century political and moral thought; these have appeared in journals such the William and Mary Quarterly, American Political Science Review, Review of Politics, and Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal.