Rights of Man was written by Thomas Paine in 1791 as a reply to Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke. It has been interpreted as a work defending the French Revolution, but it is also a seminal work embodying the ideas of liberty and human equality. Since the ideas are presented in fragments, the book is somewhat inchoate. Paine's lack of a holistic approach may be attributed...

The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. It was adopted in its original form on September 17, 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later ratified by the people in conventions in each state in the name of "We the People." The Constitution has a central place in American law and political culture. After that of San Marino, it i...

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist Adam Smith, published on March 9, 1776 during the Scottish Enlightenment. It is a clearly written account of political economy at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and is widely considered to be the first modern work in the field of economics. The work is also the first comprehensive...

Senator John McCain has pinned his hopes of winning the Republican presidential nomination on the success of the Bush surge in Iraq.

Fred Thompson has pinned his hopes of winning the Republican presidential nomination on appealing to conservative voters. However, his recent statements regarding his religious beliefs might not help his chances.