Federalist Papers - Einzelansicht

The american political discourse centers around a distinct understanding of basic political principles, e.g. the role, shape, and size of governement and the concept of liberty. These ideas were incorporated into the constitution of the United States and have been the fabric of american politics ever since. However, during the ratification debate of 1787/88 they were hotly contested. Two factions, the federalists, supporters of the constitution and the opponenents of the proposed new plan of governement, the "anti-federalists" engaged in a wide debate about the outfit of a truly free and efficient governement. In 1788 the constitution was ratified but the debate continued, within the confines of it, to this day. It can be seen, among many other things, by the emergence of Trump's populist critique of the federal government. In this course we try to examine the positions of both the federalists and "anti-federalists" on issues like democracy, liberty, and republicanism and we attempt to put them into context of 18th century political thought and the emergence of the American republic. We will see what influence the ratification debate has on modern american politics and the presidential election of 2024.

Rossiter, Clinton (Hg.): The Federalis Papers, New York u.a. 2003.

Ketcham, Ralph (Hg.): The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates, New York u.a. 2003.

Sheehan, Colleen A./McDowell, Gary L. (Hg.): Friends of the Constitution. Writings of the other Federalists, Indianapolis 1998.

Cornell, Saul: The other founders. Anti-Federalism and the dissenting tradition in America, 1788-1828, Chapel Hill 1999.

Shuffelton, Frank (Hg.): The American enlightenment, Rochester 1993.

Heideking, Jürgen: Die Verfassung vor dem Richterstuhl. Vorgeschichte und Ratifizierung der amerikanischen Verfassung 1787-1791, Berlin 1988.

Schmidt, Manfred G.: Demokratietheorien. Eine Einführung, 5. überarb. Aufl., Wiesbaden 2008.