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American Government Textbooks and The Federalist Papers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2015

Danny M. Adkison  and
Lisa McNair Palmer
Danny M. Adkison
Affiliation:
Oklahoma State University
Lisa McNair Palmer
Affiliation:
Oklahoma State University
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Extract

It seems appropriate in this bicentennial year to examine the treatment introductory American government textbooks give the U.S. Constitution. Nearly every text devotes a chapter (typically, the second) to the events leading up to, and the writing of, the Constitution. But what of the political theory on which the Constitution is based? The Constitution, by itself, is too brief and devoid of theory to provide students with an overall assessment of that document. The source that is often relied upon by constitutional scholars to provide that theory is The Federalist Papers. It is the textbooks' treatment of these essays that we will explore here.

The Federalist Papers were 85 newspaper editorials written by Hamilton, Madison, and jay, under the pseudonym Publius, in support of ratification of the proposed Constitution. The first essay was published October 27, 1787, and when the last essay was published, the authors had written 175,000 words. This was an average of 1,000 words a day, and was about 35 times the length of the Constitution itself.

Hamilton initiated the project in reaction to another set of pseudonymous literature published in New York. New York support of the Constitution was essential, and it was doubtful that the state would ratify. As the seat of the central government, New York was in a pivotal position on the eastern seaboard. It had a lively commerce, and thus was not eager for change. Governor George Clinton staunchly opposed ratification. New York had not signed the Constitution because all of its delegates, except Hamilton, had left in protest and no one signatory was authorized to approve the document for the state.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Political Science Teacher , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , Winter 1988 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1988

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References

Textbooks Examined

Aldrich, John H., Miller, Gary J., Charles W., Ostrom Jr., and Rohde, David W.. 1986. American Government: People, Institutions, and Policies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Baker, Ross K., Pomper, Gerald M., and McWilliams, Wilson C.. 1987. American Government, 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Burnham, Walter Dean. 1986. Democracy in the Making: American Government and Politics, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Burns, James MacGregor, Peltason, J. W., and Cronin, Thomas E.. 1987. Government by the People, 13th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Dawson, Paul A. 1987. American Government: Institutions, Policies, and Politics. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.Google Scholar
Edwards, David V. 1985. The American Political Experience, 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Harrigan, John J. 1987. Politics and the American Future, 2nd ed. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Harris, Fred R. 1986. America's Democracy: The Ideal and the Reality, 3rd ed. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.Google Scholar
Janda, Kenneth, Berry, Jeffrey M., and Goldman, Jerry. 1987. The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Keefe, William J., Abraham, Henry J., Flanigan, William H., Jones, Charles O., Ogul, Morris S., and Spanier, John W.. 1986. American Democracy: Institutions, Politics, and Policies, 2nd ed. Chicago: The Dorsey Press.Google Scholar
Ladd, Everett Carll. 1987. The American Polity: The People and Their Government, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Lineberry, Robert L. 1986. Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy, 3rd ed. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
Lipsitz, Lewis. 1986. American Democracy. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Prewitt, Kenneth, Verba, Sidney, and Salisbury, Robert H.. 1987. An Introduction to American Government, 5th ed. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Redenius, Charles M., Billeaux, David M., and Slann, Martin W.. 1987. The American Republic: Politics, Institutions, and Policies. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.Google Scholar
Shea, John C. 1987. American Government and Politics, 2nd ed. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Welch, Susan, Gruhl, John, Steinman, Michael, and Comer, John C.. 1986. American Government. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q. 1986. American Government: Institutions and Policies, 3rd ed. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.Google Scholar