7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Calhoun, Concurrent Majority and the Search for Popular Rule, October 12, 2004
~Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse~ outlines the political theory of the esteemed southern statesmen John Caldwell Calhoun who is often lauded as the last American Founding Father. H. Lee. Cheek, Jr., the author, presents an astute exposition of Calhoun's political thought. Cheek does so by coupling objectivity, cogent reasoning with an enthusiastic appreciation for the contributions of Calhoun to political science. He presents Calhoun as a versatile, bold, and original thinker, but not aloof from the American political tradition wrought out in the formative years of the Republic. Calhoun is a complex figure in his own right, though somewhat influenced by the liberal and Enlightenment tradition, he stil rejected the liberal philosophy of natural rights and the Enlightenment's positive view of human nature. Cheek explicates Calhoun's concurrent majority with remarkable clarity and insight. Calhoun's statesmanship is neglected these days, and shoddy partisan scholarship glibly dismisses him as a firebrand voice for sectional interests. Calhoun attached a fervent willingness to defend the American republic, to stave off dissolution of the federal regime, and eschew consolidation as a means of strengthening the republic.
This book is a well thought-out exposition of Calhoun's political theory. Even some of Calhoun's thorough biographers such as John Nevin among others have obfuscated Calhoun's political theory at times, and muddied the waters by incorrectly elaborating upon it or simply explaining it in reductionist terms. As result of their neglect at more careful study, Calhoun's contribution to political science is oft neglected and apt to be misunderstood. Cheek's effort is a poignant, well-written, and cogent elucidation on the Disquisition, the Discourse, and the principle of the concurrent majority. He clears up many matters, and soundly expounds Calhoun's political thought, chiefly that of the Disquisition and Discourse.
Calhoun was a member of that Democrat Party, yet he was opposed to the nascent demagoguery of Andrew Jackson and he rightly recognized the "limitations of the emerging plebiscitarian spirit within American democracy." He insisted only delineating himself as a "Republican" throughout his career. Calhoun was a most sober democrat, precisely because he recognized the limitations of democracy. For Calhoun, democracy works best by being dispersed (or localized) and is most tyrannical when it is centralized. Calhoun was focused on the search for a proper understanding of popular rule.
The first chapter, `Calhoun and the American Political Tradition,' sketches a background of the American political tradition from its inception. Cheek presents Calhoun as a heir and expositor of the South Atlantic republican worldview. This view, succinctly stated, was shaded by "moral and philosophical overtones," it affirmed the principle of subsidiarity, it saw the necessity of virtue amongst the citizenry of the States (inculcated by religion and fear of God), and it recognized the need to protect a "decentralized, group-oriented society." Following in the footsteps of his father Patrick Calhoun (who like Patrick Henry) was skeptical of the work wrought out in the 1787 Convention, John in turn was not doctrinaire to the dogmas espoused by Madison and Hamilton in the Federalist. Calhoun nonetheless admired the federal polity, but sought to solidify popular rule through concurrent majorities. "Calhoun's political theory should be understood as a reflective journey," notes Cheek, "towards recovering genuine popular rule amidst the national crises that occurred during his career as a statesmen and political philosopher."
The second chapter, `Calhoun's Early Republicanism,' elaborates upon his mode of political reflection and the In this chapter, Cheek weaves together history interspersed with Calhoun's reflections, political views, and defense of the principles of 1798 in the interposition statements in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. In précis, Cheek paints a background to Calhoun's mode of political thought through the lens of the "South Atlantic republican experience." Calhoun's embrace of interposition as a counterweight to federal usurpation encapsulated and shaped Calhoun's political thought. Calhoun like many other statesmen from Robert Hayne to Thomas Jefferson found the notion that federal government would be the exclusive interpreter of whether it was operating within the scope of its powers to be anathema. Giving the States, no recourse against federal usurpation was the very embodiment of tyranny. Calhoun's republicanism compelled him to affirm dual sovereignty, and more resoundingly affirm the reserved rights of the states which he perceived were being encroached upon in his time. Calhoun saw the Constitution as a compact between the States and the general Government. Embracing the idea of corporate liberty, Calhoun recognized that not only the institutions within the general government, but also the States acted as a check against usurpations by the central authority.
The third and fourth chapters, `The Political Theory of the Disquisition' and `The Political Theory of the Discourse' are trenchant analyses of Calhoun's Disquisition and Discourse respectively. Calhoun rejects natural rights, and scoffs at the self-evident egalitarian proposition in the Declaration, and embraced the doctrine of original sin in shaping his political thought. Yet Calhoun recognized authority existed to preserve liberty and he made a careful effort at structuring the interrelationship between the two in his writings. He was an organic political thinker weaving together communal, societal and government interests in his thought. Because of the sinful impulse of man, government was needed, and because of that same sinful impulse, government was to be restrained. "Intended to protect and preserve society," government has "a strong tendency to disorder and abuse of its power, as all experiences and almost every page of history will testify," argued Calhoun. Mere adherence to popular rule did not suffice to restrain government, and popular rule could give a locus of legitimacy to the most tyrannical oppression. Calhoun recognized this and affirmed his belief in constitutionalism. Calhoun takes issue with Madison and his notions of an "extended republic" acting to alleviate the intensity of factional strife merely because of the geographic scope of the nation. The idea that the extended republic would stifle majoritarian tyranny was absurd on its face. For Calhoun this was tripe and wishful thinking to think that friction amongst groups would be alleviated merely by enlarging the body politic. "Calhoun confronted a political situation in which the twin attributes of expansion and independence from group interests had failed in practice," notes Cheek. "If extending the regime had proved fruitless at reducing conflict and preventing the coalescing of forces, Calhoun envisioned the solution for America as a return to the original instrumentation of diffused authority." Calhoun recognized that without a continuous conscious effort at affirming a vision of federalism (with states' rights and the concurrent majority as its fulcrum) would in the end prove futile in staving off factional friction, and the undesirable road of either consolidation or disunion.
The final chapter, `Restoring the Concurrent Republic,' is an astute capsule of Calhoun's political theory and his labors to recover the concurrent majority within the American political tradition. Calhoun's contributions have been ignored, and reductionists who demean his reform efforts as nothing more than a proposal allowing for a dual presidency. The concurrent majority allows for genuine popular rule within a constitutional framework. The search for the concurrent majority in popular rule represents an endeavor of restoration and preservation since it embraces mutual negatives and institutional checks and balances while guarding against the tyranny of King Numbers or majoritarian tyranny. "Instead of yearning to dicatate all decision making by controlling government," notes Cheek, "the concurrent majority recognizes and incorporates the natural divisions of authority into a coherent whole through a mode of deliberation premised upon compromise. With the numerical majority (and more absolutist forms governing), the only path to power is found in the domination of the government... [T]he concurrent majority relies upon compromise among the constitutive parts of the republic to ameliorate tension and promote cooperation." The concurrent majority protects the minority interests, thwarts the all-or-nothing game at the national level and stifles coalescing of factions to the detriment of another faction. The concurrent majority represents a constraint against majoritarian tyranny, and acts to produce a peaceful consensus making a polity more workable with less friction amongst competiting interests. Cheek presents Calhoun's affirmation of "a South Atlantic republican inheritance" in a positive light, as well as his efforts to "return to the original diffusion of political authority and authentic popular rule."
With much bravado and clarity, H. Lee Cheek, Jr. has made a most remarkable contribution to political science; he very soundly elucidates Calhoun's political theory with an incisive analysis and insight.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Quotations from the late Senator John C. Calhoun:
"To talk of liberty, without a Constitution, or, which is the same thing, an organic or fundamental system of legislation, by which the will of the Government may be effectually coerced or restrained, is to utter ideas without meaning; and to suppose an ultimate power, on the part of Government, to interpret the Constitution...
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7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Who is this Man, John C. Calhoun?, May 1, 2002
This review is from: Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse (Hardcover)
There is no doubt that Dr. Lee Cheek is a brilliant author whose command of the English language is indeed impressive as displayed throughout this discourse. As a new student to understanding the political thought motivating early Americana, this book serves as a highly evolved analytical treatise to the Calhounian theories between the role of State v. 'general' government, majoritarianism, constitutionality, popular rule of society and much more. Many of Calhoun's cognitive exploits are excerpted from his original Papers and his two major works, i.e., the Disquisition and the Discourse. Although this work clearly stipulates many views of substantive Calhoun detractors, the author tends to discount the majority of their missives by stating that those detractors have often misunderstood Calhoun's more contemplative meanings on many issues. It would seem that given the numerous footnotes referencing other authors on Calhoun throughout this work, there is much more to the Man than is portrayed in this volume; certainly, it must be entertained that those discussions may fall well outside the scope of this volume. Calhoun's experiences and writings have given rise to a great deal of debate about the Man and his objectives. Even today, 152 years after his death, he remains an enigma of political discourse. To more fully appreciate this work by Dr. Cheek, it would behoove a student interested in pursuing a more indepth look into Calhounian thought to digest the unabridged texts of his Disquisition and his Discourse, and perhaps, many of his Papers.
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