The Will of the People
The Legacy of George Mason, The George Mason Lecture Series- Authors:
- Publisher:
- 1991
Summary
Americans are justly proud of their tradition of representative government. In fact, America's is the longest continuous representative government in existence. Ironically, it may be that, because of the two hundred uninterrupted years of the republic's existence, we take it for granted that we view its continuation as guaranteed. Although our republic has endured for more than two hundred years, it has not always existed in its present "form," it has not always represented many people who now routinely view its protections and guarantees as birthrights. The unlanded masses, women, blacks and other minorities, all were for a great part of our history not represented in the American body politic. Now all of these groups, at least legally speaking, are full participants in the body politic and in the public affairs of this country.
This volume examines the development of the American notion of popular sovereignty from its colonial and revolutionary origins, from the days of its severely restricted meaning through its progress toward inclusion of more of "the people."
Four distinguished commentators examine the social and political developments that have accompanied the growth and expansion of "the will of the people."
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Bibliographic data
- Copyright year
- 1991
- ISBN-Print
- 978-0-913969-31-1
- ISBN-Online
- 978-1-4617-4810-6
- Publisher
- University Press Copublishing, Lanham
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 167
- Product type
- Book Titles
Table of contents
- TABLE OF CONTENTS No access
- INTRODUCTION No access Pages 1 - 20
- CHAPTER 1 The Will of the People in Eighteenth―Century America No access Pages 21 - 54
- CHAPTER 2 Consensus and Pluralism: The Popular Will and the American People 1820―1940 No access Pages 55 - 98
- CHAPTER 3 The Will of the People: A Current Assessment No access Pages 99 - 128
- CHAPTER 4 The Will of the People: The Citizen’s Responsibility No access Pages 129 - 148
- APPENDIX The Virginia Declaration of Rights No access Pages 149 - 167





