Customer Reviews

A Disquisition on Government

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

~A Disquisition on Government~ deserves a renewed hearing among students of political science. Calhoun's Disquisition was a profoundly reflective parcel of American political thought that typifies what historians characterize as the South Atlantic Republicanism. Calhoun's concept of concurrent majorities and his understanding of the American federal system are deeply reflective. This masterful work was part of a reactionary imperative against the consolidating tendencies of the Jacksonian era. Britain had its Burke. America had its Calhoun.

As Lee Cheek notes, "In articulating the inherited understanding of properly constituted popular rule for his political situation, Calhoun may be called the last of the Founders." Undoubtedly, if we are to ever initiate a meaningful renaissance of federalism and implement needed constitutional reforms within the United States, such a move necessitates the revival of the statesmanship of John Calhoun. So, Dr. Cheek's books are a good place to start.

In the years ahead, as political science advances, and the judgment of history takes hold against the American slip into consolidation, Calhoun will likely receive a renewed hearing. H.L. Cheek, Jr. is to be commended for his scholarship on Calhoun's ideas. Invigorating the body politic entails the rediscovery and subsequent application of Calhoun's statesmanship. Apart from Calhoun's own books, Cheek's scholarship is definitive on the subject.

I highly recommend reading this book in tandem with _Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse_ by H.L. Cheek, Jr. as well. It is one of the most erudite and illuminating books on the mind of one John C. Calhoun. You can also find his online article, "Calhoun, Sectional Conflict, and Modern America," through the Journal of Libertarian Studies, which is affiliated with the Mises Institute.

Dr. H. Lee Cheek and St. Augustine's Press should be commended for making Calhoun's "Disquisition" available in an inexpensive edition that is ideal for students. The "Disquisition" is one of the most important and original contributions to American political thought. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand American history and government. Though there are other editions of Calhoun's treatise, the introduction by Cheek, who established himself as his generation's leading authority on the "Disquisition" with Calhoun and Popular Rule: The Political Theory of the Disquisition and Discourse, sets this one apart.

John Calhoun, the Iron Man from South Carolina, is often described as the last of the founding fathers, as his contributions to political theory are among the most original in our literature. Calhoun was the anonymous author of nullification writings while sitting as Vice President of the United States!

This essay is a very concise treatment of why American politics will always resolve to the two party system and why another check on Federal power is needed -- what Calhoun terms the "concurrent majority". I consider it essential in understanding the weakness in the checks and balances system and how Consitutional government has devolved over time to popular democracy.