James Madison and Constitutional Imperfection [Hardcover]

The book liberates James Madison from Madisonian Constitutionalism and focuses on Madison's treatment of the problem of constitutional imperfection.This book presents a provocative account of James Madison's political thought by focusing on Madison's treatment of the problem of constitutional imperfection. Its repositioning of Madison's political thought will be of interest to specialists in American political thought, historians of the early republic, as well as students of constitutional identity.This book presents a provocative account of James Madison's political thought by focusing on Madison's treatment of the problem of constitutional imperfection. Its repositioning of Madison's political thought will be of interest to specialists in American political thought, historians of the early republic, as well as students of constitutional identity.This book presents a provocative account of James Madison's political thought by focusing on Madison's lifelong encounter with the enduring problem of constitutional imperfection. In particular, it emphasizes Madison's alliance with Thomas Jefferson, liberating it from those longstanding accounts of Madisonian constitutionalism that emphasize deliberation by elites and constitutional veneration. Contrary to much of the scholarship, this book shows that Madison was aware of the limits of the inventions of political science and held a far more subtle understanding of the possibility of constitutional government than has been recognized. By repositioning Madison as closer to Jefferson and the Revolution of 1800, this book offers a reinterpretation of one of the central figures of the early republic.1. Madison and constitutional imperfection; 2. Appeals to tradition; 3. Appeals to elites; 4. Public opinion before parties; 5. The turn to public opinion; 6. Appeals to the people; 7. Appeals to text and history; 8. 'Take care of me when dead'. Jeremy Baileys remarkable and transformative book does what great scholarship always dlã'