The Spirit of American Government

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Cosimo, Inc., 1. 5. 2006. - 420 страница
Democracy-government by the people, or directly responsible to them-was not the object which the framers of the American Constitution had in view, but the very thing which they wished to avoid. In the convention which drafted that instrument it was recognized that democratic ideas had made sufficient progress among the masses to put an insurmountable obstacle in the way of any plan of government which did not confer at least the form of political power upon the people. Accordingly the efforts of the Constitutional Convention were directed to the task of devising a system of government which was just popular enough not to excite general opposition and which at the same time gave to the people as little as possible of the substance of political power.-from "Chapter III: The Constitution Reactionary Document"It was written a century ago, in 1907, but this rethinking of the legacy of the American founding fathers continues to inspire historical revisionists today. The opening salvo in what was to become a cottage industry of conspiracy theories, this startling and angry work posits that the American Constitution is not, in fact, a bastion of power-to-the-people philosophy but is, rather, the result of a political plot by the economic elite of the colonies to retain as much supremacy as possible for themselves.A shattering blow to the iconic images of the men who made America, this is a provocative and shocking read.OF INTEREST TO: readers of American history, students of the culture warsJAMES ALLEN SMITH (1860-1926) was professor of political science at the University of Washington.

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CHAPTER I
3
necessary
6
CHAPTER II
12
CHAPTER III
27
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMENDMENT FEATURE OF
40
The amendments to the Constitution
47
Causes of political reaction
51
Amendment of the Articles of Confederation
57
The committee system a check on the majority
193
The speakers power to thwart legislation
199
Amendment of the constitution made more difficult
235
CHAPTER X
249
Fear of municipal democracy
279
28
284
Why our state governments have not been favorable
285
CHAPTER XI
291

CHAPTER V
65
Hamiltons defense of the Federal judiciary
73
The Constitution a product of eighteenthcentury
86
Effort to establish municipal selfgovernment
90
Character of the laws vetoed by the Supreme Court
111
The object of home rule provisions largely defeated
112
Government by injunction
117
The disadvantages of a deferred veto
123
THE CHECKS AND BALANCES OF THE CONSTITUTION
125
Relation of the theory of checks and balances
131
The framers fear of democracy
136
Subordination of the House of Representatives
138
Significance of the Presidents oath of office
146
Attitude of the framers toward criticism of public
152
Federal versus national government
160
CHAPTER VII
186
The doctrine of vested rights
299
INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY AND THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM
304
The laissez faire policy
310
The need of protection to labor
316
The policy of the Supreme Court a factor in corrupt
325
CHAPTER XIII
331
Three reforms needed in the case of the Senate
338
Power of twothirds of the states to call a consti
346
Direct versus representative democracy
355
CHAPTER XIV
361
Decline in the efficacy of old restraints
364
The need of more publicity
372
CHAPTER XV
379
Democracy would make government a science
386
The scientific justification of democracys hostility
394
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