Restoration of the republic
Subtitle: the Jeffersonian ideal in 21st-century America
By: Gary Hart.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Oxford, [U.K.]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 292
Subjects: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 -- Political and social views; Democracy -- United States; Political participation -- United States; Republicanism -- United States; United States -- Politics and government -- 2001-; United States -- Social conditions -- 1980-
Description: Hart revisits arguments first offered in The Patriot (1996) and The Minuteman (1998) for increasing the involvement of the National Guard (the militia of the Constitution) in matters of national security, an argument given new timeliness in the aftermath of September 11. He also offers a consideration of Thomas Jefferson's idea that the growing union should develop "ward republics" by which power could be devolved and local decision-making encouraged. Arguing that the nation-state is increasingly ineffectual in the age of transnational economies and roving bands of terrorists, a time "characterized by the erosion of national authority and the weakening of national sovereignty," Hart makes a strong case for the republican virtue of allowing local people to make some of the day-by-day decisions that affect their lives.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.[269]-292) and index.
Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.--Oxford University, 2001).