Michael Zuckert’s A Nation So Conceived

Abstract

The paradox of democratic sovereignty is that a democratic politician must both represent and lead the people. The tension between these two things is a version of the tension between democracy, government by the people, and liberalism, government according to fair rules. Lincoln negotiated the tension between the legitimate and the legal by engaging in shrewd strategic indirections, but these indirections have complicated how to interpret his aims and values.