Contemporary law schools rarely teach property in ‘property class.’ Rather, they teach how to balance state interests with private property interests. Reflection on Madison’s essay Property elucidates the problematic shift in American political thought away from an understanding of property as rooted in fundamental rights toward property as rooted in interests. Madison begins his discussion […]
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The Dark Side of Political Compromise: Why the Filibuster Needs to Go
Compromise is often seen as a silver bullet for the problems plaguing modern politics. If only our politicians were less confrontational and better at negotiating compromises, we are told, much of the rancor characterizing contemporary political discourse would disappear. For this reason, many observers on both left and right defend the filibuster, a Senate procedure […]
The True Narrative of an Exhausted Veteran of the American History Wars
Politicians and media personalities have undertaken a massive campaign to censor a giant swathe of our African American History. They have a specific target—the New York Times’ imperfect but provocative 1619 Project—and a general one: Critical Race Theory (CRT). As originally worked out in some of the nation’s top law schools, CRT probed the persistence […]
James Madison, “Father of the Constitution”
First, I wish to commend Starting Points Journal for launching their symposium on James Madison, especially the pieces challenging his informal title as “Father of the Constitution.” This subject is vitally important, and the selection of two such outstanding scholars as Sanford Levinson and Alan Gibson to lead off the discussion, highlights the crucial nature of the topic. I believe most […]
Why We Remember Jefferson and Not Madison
Scholars are wont to paint antipodally Jefferson and Madison, and for good reasons. Most depictions show, in effect, that by psychological disposition, Madison was better suited to be a Hamiltonian Federalist than a Jeffersonian Republican. I offer a few illustrations. Merrill D. Peterson, in his Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation, states that Madison had […]
