Nature and History in American Political Development: A Debate

by James W. Ceaser, Theda Skocpol (Foreword by), Jack Rakove (Contribution by), Nancy L. Rosenblum (Contribution by), Rogers M. Smith (Contribution by)

Overview

In this inaugural volume of the Alexis de Tocqueville Lectures, political scientist James Ceaser traces the way certain ideas, including nature, history, and religion-which he calls foundational ideas-have been understood and used by statesmen and public intellectuals over the course of American history, from the Puritans to the current day.

Three critical commentators-Jack N. Rakove, Nancy L. Rosenblum, and Rogers M. Smith-challenge Ceaser's arguments in several ways. They suggest that other ideas may be considered foundational, and they prod him to clarify further how foundational ideas work politically. Ceaser responds with vigor, and the result is a spirited debate about large and enduring questions in American politics.

About the Author:
James W. Ceaser is Professor of Politics, University of Virginia

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674021587
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	03/28/2006
Series:	The Alexis de Tocqueville Lectures on American Politics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

James W. Ceaser is Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Theda Skocpol is Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. Her previous works include the prize-winning States and Social Revolutions.

Jack N. Rakove is William R. Coe Professor of History and American Studies and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution.

Table of Contents

Foreword   Theda R. Skocpol     vii
Foundational Concepts and American Political Development   James W. Ceaser     1
Can We Know a Foundational Idea When We See One?   Jack N. Rakove     91
Replacing Foundations with Staging: "Second-Story" Concepts and American Political Development   Nancy L. Rosenblum     113
What If God Was One of Us? The Challenges of Studying Foundational Political Concepts   Rogers M. Smith     141
Foundational Concepts Reconsidered   James W. Ceaser     169
Notes     199
About the Authors     222
Index     223

What People are Saying About This

This first Alexis de Tocqueville Lecture fully lives up to its name. These are wise, elegant, witty, subversive reflections on the role of ideas in political life. Nature and History is a rich meditation on America, a feisty debate about history, and a complete delight to read.

James A Morone

This first Alexis de Tocqueville Lecture fully lives up to its name. These are wise, elegant, witty, subversive reflections on the role of ideas in political life. Nature and History is a rich meditation on America, a feisty debate about history, and a complete delight to read.
— James A Morone, Brown University

Jeffrey K. Tulis

James Ceaser has uncovered a profoundly vital aspect of American politics known by political leaders for centuries but ignored by the discipline of political science. His lecture on foundational concepts stimulated a vigorous debate on the ways students of politics should understand the role of ideas. The responses by Jack Rakove, Nancy Rosenblum, and Rogers Smith pose tough questions and Ceaser responds to their challenges in a wonderful exchange. Nature and History in American Political Development opens up an arena in the study of American politics that is new and especially important.
— Jeffrey K. Tulis, University of Texas at Austin

Michael Zuckert

This book offers a double-header of a treat: James Ceaser provides the outlines of a new and altogether intriguing approach to the field of American political thought, and three of the field's most eminent scholars write appreciative but hard-hitting critiques. Ceaser has a reply, and the entire debate echoes in the mind long after the reader has put the book down. --(Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame)

Editorial Reviews

This first Alexis de Tocqueville Lecture fully lives up to its name. These are wise, elegant, witty, subversive reflections on the role of ideas in political life. Nature and History is a rich meditation on America, a feisty debate about history, and a complete delight to read.

James A. Morone James A. Morone

Ceaser's analysis of American history is highly sophisticated and impressive… The discussants, two political scientists and one historian, give the volume balance both politically and intellectually… [An] engaging, deeply thoughtful, and public-spirited volume.

Claremont Review of Books - Daniel Walker Howe

This book offers a double-header of a treat: James Ceaser provides the outlines of a new and altogether intriguing approach to the field of American political thought, and three of the field's most eminent scholars write appreciative but hard-hitting critiques. Ceaser has a reply, and the entire debate echoes in the mind long after the reader has put the book down.

Michael Zuckert

James Ceaser has uncovered a profoundly vital aspect of American politics known by political leaders for centuries but ignored by the discipline of political science. His lecture on foundational concepts stimulated a vigorous debate on the ways students of politics should understand the role of ideas. The responses by Jack Rakove, Nancy Rosenblum, and Rogers Smith pose tough questions and Ceaser responds to their challenges in a wonderful exchange. Nature and History in American Political Development opens up an arena in the study of American politics that is new and especially important.

Jeffrey K. Tulis

This first Alexis de Tocqueville Lecture fully lives up to its name. These are wise, elegant, witty, subversive reflections on the role of ideas in political life. Nature and History is a rich meditation on America, a feisty debate about history, and a complete delight to read.

James A. Morone

Ceaser's analysis of American history is highly sophisticated and impressive...The discussants, two political scientists and one historian, give the volume balance both politically and intellectually...[An] engaging, deeply thoughtful, and public-spirited volume.
— Daniel Walker Howe

Claremont Review of Books