September 2022: The Evolution of American Federalism
Please join us in September 2022 for a Virtual Reading Group with Scott Yenor.
Pre-registration is required, and we ask you to register only if you can be present for ALL sessions. Most readings are available online; PDFs of the remainder will be emailed upon registration confirmation. Participants who successfully complete ALL sessions will be eligible to receive an Amazon e-gift certificate.
Our treatment of federalism will focus on what goods are served when governments divide power between national, state, and local levels and the manner in which the United States Constitution itself divides sovereignty. In the United States, federalism is the method whereby we achieve national unity on some policies, while allowing for local diversity on other policies. But what kinds of policies require national unity? And what kinds of policy areas are made for local diversity? The US Constitution has allowed for several shifts in the understanding of such unity and diversity--and we are in a good position to evaluate such shifts and to see which model efforts healthier politics. The specific models we will look at include the Articles of Confederation, the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Constitution as amended through the Civil War Amendments, and the late progressive Constitution.
Session I: Wednesday, September 7, 4-5pm EDT: The Idea of Federalism and Its Application to the United States
David Hume, Essay XVI, “The Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth”
The Articles of Confederation, Articles 1-4, 6, 9 and 13
Federalist 40 (paragraphs 1-13 [ending with words “without further observation”])
Optional: Yenor and Jordan, “Federalism and David Hume’s Perfect Commonwealth”
Session II: Wednesday, September 14, 4-5pm EDT: The US Constitution: What is the Constitution’s Philosophy of Federalism
The Virginia Plan (May 29 in Constitutional Convention)
Hamilton’s Plan (June 18 and short speech on June 19 where he uses the words “Mr. WILSON observed that, by a national Government,. . . “
Constitution of the United States, Preamble, Article 1.8-10, Articles 3, 4 and 6.
Session III: Wednesday, September 21, 4-5pm EDT: The Limits of State Diversity
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, “Exchange on State Sovereignty and Majority Rule” (1858), in attached “Readings in Am Gov.” (see PDF)
James Buchanan, State of the Union Address (1860) from beginning until “In order to carry the enumerated powers into effect, Congress possesses the exclusive right to lay and collect duties on imports, and, in common with the States, to lay and collect all other taxes.”
Lochner v. New York (1905) (excerpts) (see PDF)
Session IV: Wednesday, September 28, 4-5pm EDT: The Corruption of Modern Federalism
Garcia v. SAMTA (1985) (see PDF)
South Dakota v. Dole (1987) (see PDF)
Printz v. United States (1997) (see PDF)
Virtual Reading Groups
- One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare’s Plays
- December 2023: H.G. Wells, Technocracy and Liberty
- November 2023: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War: the Gettysburg Address
- September 2023: Islam and Liberty
- September 2023: H. L. Mencken on Commerce, Culture, and Democracy
- August 2023: The Price of Power: Bring Up the Bodies and The Prince
- July 2023: Civil Society and Political Economy
- June 2023: The Challenges of Democracy in a Diverse Society
- April 2023: Understanding Reconstruction - the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
- March 2023: Foundations of Modern Environmentalism
- February 2023: Bruno Leoni: Freedom and the Law
- January 2023: Oakeshott’s Moral Vision
- January 2023: The Messiness of Progress: Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and David Hume’s Essays and Histories
- December 2022: Classical Tragedy and the World of Ideas
- December 2022: J.S. Mill “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion"
- November 2022: The Election of 1800: Jefferson v. Adams
- October 2022: Shakespeare’s First Tetralogy
- September 2022: The Evolution of American Federalism
- September 2022: Liberty and Virtue in the Axial Age
- August 2022: Jane Austen’s Persuasion: Aristocracy, Independence, and Economics
- May 2022: THE BILL OF RIGHTS: SELECT CASES IN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
- April 2022: Education in a Free Society
- March 2022: Mary Wollstonecraft and the Rights of Women
- March 2022: Ancient v Modern Liberty
- February 2022: Joseph Schumpeter’s “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy”
- January 2022: James Madison and the Conflict Between the Executive and Legislative Branches
- November 2021: Pericles' Funeral Oration
- September 2021: Celebrate Constitution Day
- August 2021: Agriculture, the State, and Liberty
- June 2021: Adam Ferguson’s History of Civil Society
- May 2021: The Colonial Origins of the Bill of Rights