Government by Dissent : Protest, Resistance, and Radical Democratic Thought in the Early American Republic / Robert W.T. Martin.
2013
E310 .M37 2016
Linked e-resources
Linked Resource
Online Access
Details
Title
Government by Dissent : Protest, Resistance, and Radical Democratic Thought in the Early American Republic / Robert W.T. Martin.
Author
Martin, Robert W.T., author.
ISBN
9780814738863
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2013]
Copyright
©2013
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Other Standard Identifiers
10.18574/nyu/9780814738245.001.0001 doi
Call Number
E310 .M37 2016
Dewey Decimal Classification
973.318
Summary
"The most thorough examination we have of how early Americans wrestled with what types of political dissent should be permitted, even promoted, in the new republic they were forming. Martin shows the modern relevance of their debates in ways that all will find valuable-even those who dissent from his views!"-Rogers M. Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania Democracy is the rule of the people. But what exactly does it mean for a people to rule? Which practices and behaviors are legitimate, and which are democratically suspect? We generally think of democracy as government by consent; a government of, by, and for the people. This has been true from Locke through Lincoln to the present day. Yet in understandably stressing the importance-indeed, the monumental achievement-of popular consent, we commonly downplay or even denigrate the role of dissent in democratic governments. But in Government by Dissent, Robert W.T. Martin explores the idea that the people most important in a flourishing democracy are those who challenge the status quo. The American political radicals of the 1790s understood, articulated, and defended the crucial necessity of dissent to democracy. By returning to their struggles, successes, and setbacks, and analyzing their imaginative arguments, Martin recovers a more robust approach to popular politics, one centered on the ever-present need to challenge the status quo and the powerful institutions that both support it and profit from it. Dissent has rarely been the mainstream of democratic politics. But the figures explored here-forgotten farmers as well as revered framers-understood that dissent is always the essential undercurrent of democracy and is often the critical crosscurrent. Only by returning to their political insights can we hope to reinvigorate our own popular politics.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
Available in Other Form
print 9780814738245
Linked Resources
Online Access
Record Appears in
Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources
All Resources
Table of Contents
Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on the Text
1. Introduction
2. Regulation, Not Rebellion
3. "Secret Plodders"
4. Institutionalizing Counterpublicity
5. James Madison
6. "Salutary Collisions" and Multiple Discourses
7. The "Saucy Sons of Enquiry"
8. Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on the Text
1. Introduction
2. Regulation, Not Rebellion
3. "Secret Plodders"
4. Institutionalizing Counterpublicity
5. James Madison
6. "Salutary Collisions" and Multiple Discourses
7. The "Saucy Sons of Enquiry"
8. Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author