num_pages: 256
description: The fundamental article of my political creed, declared John Adams, is that despotism, or unlimited sovereignty, or absolute power is the same in a majority of a popular assembly, an aristocratical council, an oligarchical junto, and a single emperor. Equally arbitrary, cruel, bloody, and in every respect diabolical. The consequences of this article for Adams' thought are nowhere better articulated than in this anthology, which presents his remarkable attempts at constructing a complete political system based on constitutional, balanced, representative government.
language: English
title: The Political Writings of John Adams: Representative Selections
titlecomplete: The Political Writings of John Adams: Representative Selections
ratings_count: 8
series: American Heritage Series
publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.