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PLS 328

The Challenge of the American Founding


PLS 328
Fall 2010

Professor: Ron Smith


Office: FOB 204
Office Phone: 866-7368
Email: smithr@hanover.edu
On-line Syllabus: www2.hanover.edu/smithr/

Course Description:
Following his journey through the United States, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that America occupied a
singular place in history. Here the people braved the wilderness, struggled with order, and endured the "inevitable
sufferings of exile" not to win glory or power, but, "for the triumph of an idea." This course looks at the ideas,
principles, and institutions that provided the foundation for our current republic. Special emphasis is placed on the
political theory of two monumental works from this time period: the Federalist Papers and Alexis de Tocqueville’s
Democracy in America. Moreover, we will draw on current theories of constitutional political economy and
collective action in order to see what the American founding might offer to future attempts to constitute a self-
governing society.

Course Readings:
Hamilton, Jay, and Madison. The Federalist Papers.
Readings Packet (available from the Hanover Bookstore).
Other readings as indicated in the syllabus (JSTOR, Lexis-Nexus, etc)

Course Requirements:
Final grades are based on two exams (30% each), a series of mastery exercises (20%), and a paper (20%).
The mid-term and final will both consist of concept identifications and essays. The mastery exercises will range
from short essays covering the day’s readings to group assignments. You will not know which days these exercises
will fall on, so always read, always take some time to think about the ideas you’ve read, and always be prepared for
me to spring one on you. As a general rule there will be no make-up exercises. If you will be gone on a given day
for an excused absence, it is your responsibility to approach me before the class and make arrangements.
However, I will drop the lowest score when computing the course grade—so you essentially have an “extra.” If the
syllabus indicates that we will be spending multiple days on the same readings, you need to have them read by the
first day indicated.
The term papers (due December 6th) will be explained later in the term. I’ll also hand out a sheet covering
the guidelines and requirements for the paper at that time.
I look forward to, and expect, works that are both original and unique. Plagiarism or other forms of
academic dishonesty are unacceptable and you may be penalized as prescribed in the student handbook. If you are
unsure of what plagiarism is, or exactly how much you and a friend can collaborate on class work, please talk with
me.

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Course Outline

I. American Character………………………………………………………….………Sept 8
Tocqueville.
Packet, Jefferson: “To Martha Jefferson.”
Packet, Jefferson: “Query VIII.”

II. Revolutionary moments


Rousseau and French Liberalism…………………………….………….………..….Sept 10 and 13
Packet, Rousseau: “Excerpts from the Social Contract.”
Packet, Jefferson: “Declaration of Independence draft.”
Packet, Jefferson: “To Thomas Law.”

Republican Virtue……………………………………………………………….Sept 15
Montesquieu: “Of the Principles of the Three Kinds of Governments”

A Firm League of Friendship……………………………………….…………………...Sept 17


Packet, The Articles of Confederation.
Packet, Madison: “Vices of the Political System.”
Packet, The 1776 Constitution of New Hampshire.

The Temple of Tyranny has Two Doors…………………………..…………….….Sept 20 and 22


Packet, “John DeWitt I.”
Rossiter, The Federalist Papers (hereafter Federalist) # 6, 15, 22, and 30.
Packet, Madison’s Note #2 on Suffrage.

III. A New Science of Politics


Hume and the Scottish School………………………………......……….…….Sept 24 and 27
Packet, Mandeville: “The Fable of the Bees.”
Packet, Hume: Selections from Essays, Moral and Political.

The Problem of Design…………………………………………….…………….……….Sept 29 and Oct 1


Packet, Madison: “To George Washington.”
Packet, Hamilton: “Plan for National Government.”
Federalist # 1, 2, and 37.

Sufficient Energy: “I Smell a Rat”……………………………..……..……………..Oct 4 and 6


Federalist # 9, 23, and 25.
Packet: “New Jersey Plan.”
Packet: “Speeches of Patrick Henry.”

Stability: The Republican Solution………………………………….……..……….Oct 8 and 11


Tocqueville.
Federalist # 10 and 51.
Packet, “Centinel I.”

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Republican Principles: The Promise of Federalism………………………....………Oct 13


Tocqueville.
Federalist # 14, 16, and 39.
Packet, Jefferson: “To Joseph Cabell.”
Packet, “Brutus I.”

Midterm (Sections I-III)….…………………..…………………..…..………………..………..Oct 15

IV. Institutional Design


The Executive.………………….……………………………...….………..…..….……………Oct 20 and 22
Riker, William. 1984. “The Heresthetics of Constitution-making: The Presidency in 1787” APSR
78 (March): 1-16. (access through JSTOR)
Packet, Hamilton: “Letter to the New York Evening Post.”
Packet, Jefferson: “To John Adams.”
Federalist # 68 and 70.

Congress: Wise Magistrates vs. the Vulgar Masses……….…………………….…..Oct 25 and 27


Packet, Comments on representation.
Packet, “Brutus IV” and “Brutus XVI.”
Federalist # 55, 57 and 62.
Tocqueville.

Ratification and the Bill of Rights………………………………………………….Oct 29 and Nov 1


Packet, Jefferson: “To James Madison” and “To Mr. A. Donald.”
Packet, Hamilton: “Conjectures about the new Constitution.”
Packet, Proposed amendments.
Federalist # 84.
Bill of Rights (Amendments I-X in Federalist Papers pp. 542-544).

The Vulnerability of American Democracy………………………….…………..…….…Nov 3


Tocqueville.
Theda Skocpol. 1997. “The Tocqueville Problem: Civic Engagement in American
Democracy.” Social Science History, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 455-479. (Access through
JSTOR).

V. The Society
The Law of Society……………………………………………………………………..Nov 5
Harold J. Berman and Charles Reid Jr. 1996. “The Transformation of English Legal Science:
From Hale to Blackstone.” Emory Law Journal 45:437. (Access through Lexis-Nexis).

Decentralized Common law…………………………………….……………Nov 8


Tocqueville.
Packet, Jefferson: “To Edmund Randolph.”

Constitutional Interpretation……………………………………………………………….Nov 10 and 12


Federalist # 78
Packet, Madison: “To Charles Jared Ingersoll.”
Packet, The Kentucky resolutions

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The Natural Aristocracy……………………………………….……………………..…………..Nov 15


Packet, Newmyer, Kent. 1987. “Harvard Law School, New England Legal Culture, and the
Antebellum Origins of American Jurisprudence.” Journal of American History 74: 814-
835. (access through JSTOR).
Tocqueville.

Adam Smith and Political Economy………………..………………..…...…………..…Nov 17 and 19


Packet, Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations.
Federalist # 11.
Hurst, J. Willard. 1956. Law and the Conditions of Freedom. Chapter 1: “The Release of
Energy.”

The Economics of Jefferson and Hamilton……….……..….……………….…………....Nov 22and 29


Packet, Hamilton: “Selections from The Report on Manufactures” and “Catullus III.”
Packet, Jefferson: “Query XIX,” “To Hogendorp,” “To the President of the United States,” “To
John Melish,” and “Anas.”

For Love of Gold………………………………………………………….…………….………...Dec 1


Riker, William H. 1986. The Art of Political Manipulation. Yale University Press. Chapter 8:
“Trading Votes at the Constitutional Convention.”
Packet, Jefferson: “Query V,” “To Benjamin Banneker,” and “To Edward Coles.”
Tocqueville, pp. 340-347.

The Chief Political Institution …………..………………………………………….Dec 3


Tocqueville

Term Paper Due…………………………………………………………………………………Dec 6


To Worship According to Our Conscience …………..…….………..……………..……. Dec 6
McConnel, Michael. 1990. “The Origins and Historical Understanding of the Free Exercise of
Religion.” Harvard Law Review 103: 1421-1458. (Access through JSTOR)

Wall of Separation…………………………………………………………………..Dec 8 and 10


Packet, Madison: “To Edward Livingston.”
Packet, Madison: “A Memorial and Remonstrance.”
Packet, Jefferson: “To A Committee of the Danbury Baptist Association.”
Packet, Jefferson: “To Jacob De La Motta.”

Final Exam……………………………………………………………..……..………………………….……TBA

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