Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Showing 1-4 of 323 pages in this dissertation.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Description

It has become something of a cliché for contemporary scholars to assert that Madison turned Montesquieu on his head and thereafter give little thought to the Frenchman’s theory that republics must remain limited in territorial size. Madison did indeed present a formidable challenge to Montesquieu’s theory, but I will demonstrate in this dissertation that the authors of the Federalist Papers arrived at the extended sphere by following a theoretical pathway already cemented by the French philosopher. I will also show that Madison’s “practical sphere” ultimately concedes to Montesquieu that excessive territorial size and high levels of heterogeneity will overwhelm the … continued below

Physical Description

iv, 318 pages

Creation Information

Drummond, Nicholas W. December 2015.

Context

This dissertation is part of the collection entitled: UNT Theses and Dissertations and was provided by the UNT Libraries to the UNT Digital Library, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 319 times. More information about this dissertation can be viewed below.

Who

People and organizations associated with either the creation of this dissertation or its content.

Author

Chair

Committee Members

Publisher

Rights Holder

For guidance see Citations, Rights, Re-Use.

  • Drummond, Nicholas W.

Provided By

UNT Libraries

The UNT Libraries serve the university and community by providing access to physical and online collections, fostering information literacy, supporting academic research, and much, much more.

About | Browse this Partner

Contact Us

Corrections Questions

What

Descriptive information to help identify this dissertation. Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.

Degree Information

Description

It has become something of a cliché for contemporary scholars to assert that Madison turned Montesquieu on his head and thereafter give little thought to the Frenchman’s theory that republics must remain limited in territorial size. Madison did indeed present a formidable challenge to Montesquieu’s theory, but I will demonstrate in this dissertation that the authors of the Federalist Papers arrived at the extended sphere by following a theoretical pathway already cemented by the French philosopher. I will also show that Madison’s “practical sphere” ultimately concedes to Montesquieu that excessive territorial size and high levels of heterogeneity will overwhelm the citizens of a republic and enable the few to oppress the many. The importance of this dissertation is its finding that the principal mechanism devised by the Federalists for dealing with factions—the enlargement of the sphere—was crafted specifically for the purpose of moderating interests, classes, and sects within an otherwise relatively homogeneous nation. Consequently, the diverse republic that is America today may be exposed to the existential threat anticipated by Montesquieu’s theory of size—the plutocratic oppression of society by an elite class that employs the strategy of divide et impera.

Physical Description

iv, 318 pages

Language

Item Type

Identifier

Unique identifying numbers for this dissertation in the Digital Library or other systems.

Collections

This dissertation is part of the following collection of related materials.

UNT Theses and Dissertations

Theses and dissertations represent a wealth of scholarly and artistic content created by masters and doctoral students in the degree-seeking process. Some ETDs in this collection are restricted to use by the UNT community.

About | Browse this Collection

What responsibilities do I have when using this dissertation?

Digital Files

When

Dates and time periods associated with this dissertation.

Creation Date

  • December 2015

Added to The UNT Digital Library

  • March 20, 2016, 10:34 a.m.

Description Last Updated

  • May 11, 2021, 9:57 p.m.

Usage Statistics

When was this dissertation last used?

Yesterday: 0
Past 30 days: 1
Total Uses: 319
More Statistics

Where

Geographical information about where this dissertation originated or about its content.

Place Name

Publication Place

Map Information

  • map marker Place Name coordinates. (May be approximate.)
  • Repositioning map may be required for optimal printing.

Mapped Locations

Interact With This Dissertation

Here are some suggestions for what to do next.

Start Reading

Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Thumbnail image of item number 2 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Thumbnail image of item number 3 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.
Thumbnail image of item number 4 in: 'Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate'.

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Citations, Rights, Re-Use

International Image Interoperability Framework

IIF Logo

We support the IIIF Presentation API

Links for Robots

Helpful links in machine-readable formats.

Archival Resource Key (ARK)

International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)

Metadata Formats

Images

URLs

Stats

Drummond, Nicholas W. Montesquieu, Diversity, and the American Constitutional Debate, dissertation, December 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822814/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .

Back to Top of Screen