In Search of Civic Virtue : On the Use of the Founders in Political Discourse

Abstract

This essay examines three competing interpretations of the 'Founding Fathers' that were made in the contested political climate of the 1980s. The first is Marc Plattner's neoclassical economic interpretation that stresses Madisonian principles of law, property rights, and the danger of majoritarian rule to justify a minimal rule-based government and free market capitalism. The second is Robert Bellah's communitarian-democratic interpretation, which appeals to the Founders and our republican traditions to critique excessive individualism and advance a more democratic politics governed by the norms of civic virtue. The third approach considered is the anti-Federalist critique of the Founders by Sheldon Wolin, who sees in the Constitution the beginnings of a system of national capitalism and state power that undermined localized and democratic political culture. Each approach will be assessed for its contribution toward a more participatory notion of public life.