Chapter 1

This chapter discusses the origins of American political principles by showcasing their development from antiquity through the early modern period of Western history. The author, Cal Jillson, suggests that the appropriate way to understand this development is through the analytical lens provided by American political development research with its emphases on development and change in American political processes, institutions, and policies. Specifically, these institutions are defined as customs, practices, or organizations, usually embedded in rules and law that define and structure social as well as political activity. Greco-Roman political philosophers during the ancient period, especially Plato and Aristotle, developed the ideas of democracy, mixed constitutions, and republicanism (limited government through elements of monarchy [rule by the one], aristocracy [rule by the few], and democracy [rule by the many]) in order to prevent tyrannical degeneration of the polis or political community.

Next, the Middle Ages with its emphasis on the sacred over the secular as discussed by Aquinas would serve as a model to reject religion in the formation of self-government within the American colonies. As the Renaissance and the Reformation challenged old ways of life, the development of classical liberalism in the early modern period of the seventeenth century brought forth theoretical political changes that would be made manifest in the instantiation of the American polity. Representative democracy, with its attention to limited government by social contract theory and the protections of individual political, social, as well as economic liberties, was fully infused within the nascent American colonial state.

Additionally, settlement patterns within the American colonies produced a heterogeneous population with widespread social and economic opportunities that were reflected in political predilections regarding tolerance, individualism, and equality. It would be these political premises upon which a new order would be built during and after the American Revolution.

Go to Appendix A and analyze the Declaration of Independence, identifying the specific reasons for America's grievance with Great Britain. Specifically, look at the perceived violations of “natural rights” that the Founding Fathers claimed were being abridged by the British Empire. Write an essay detailing what those rights were, the specific examples as given in the text of the Declaration of their violation, and the philosophical justifications given by the authors to permit a “right of revolution” as emanating from those violations. In particular, detail and discuss the idea of natural rights as given in the document and feel free to criticize positively or negatively the American practice of such rights during and after the Revolutionary War.

Aristotle’s Political Theory

This page provides an overview of Aristotle’s basic notion of political science as the confluence of political philosophy and ethics.

Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy

This page provides a concise statement of the basic issues and problems of society as conceptualized by Hobbes’s moral and political philosophy.

Political Philosophy Internet Resources

This link provides a basic resource of a wide range of sources within the discipline of political philosophy itself.

The Journal of Political Philosophy

The journal’s recent and archived online articles from professionally reviewed political philosophers covering the full range of topics prescient to the field.

Classical Liberalism, Libertarianism, and Individualism

This article articulates a view that modern libertarianism is the philosophical inheritance of classical liberalism.

Liberalism Broadly Conceived

On the other hand, this site argues against the view that libertarianism is the natural outcome of philosophical classical liberalism.

Saving the Soul of Classical Liberalism

This article discusses classical liberalism in an anecdotal journalistic manner stressing the individualist imperative of the political philosophy.

FDR and the Four Freedoms

This is the speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in which he articulated the idea of the “Four Freedoms.”

Famous Political Quotes

This very useful site contains access points to the texts of famous speeches, including speeches by various American presidents and other notable figures in American history over the decades. This site is general in content but many of the speeches contain specific references to fundamental ideas that emanate out from the American political culture like liberty, democracy, limited government, and capitalism.

Claremont Institute Center for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy

Official Web page of the Claremont Institute Center for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy. The institute supports research, scholarship, teachings, public forums, and conferences.

The History Place

Information concerning American history: pre-colonial to the present. A plethora of timelines, quotes, and photos are available.

Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy

This is the main Web page for the Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy, an organization that conducts scholarly investigations and sponsors work/reading groups on relevant topics in political and legal thought/philosophy.
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Political Philosophy

This site provides a series of videos containing lectures by Professor Steven B. Smith of Yale University covering an undergraduate introductory course in political philosophy. It is useful for generating ideas and for drawing connections between philosophical premises and their practice in the subsequent political development of the United States.

Chapter 1

Project Gutenberg- collection of primary texts (classic and modern):

Political compass:

Article by Stuart Hall discussing neoliberalism: