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Selected Works

Politics

Political Theory

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Full-Text Articles in History

America's Forgotten Constitutions: Defiant Visions Of Power And Community, Robert Tsai Mar 2014

America's Forgotten Constitutions: Defiant Visions Of Power And Community, Robert Tsai

Robert L Tsai

The U.S. Constitution opens by proclaiming the sovereignty of all citizens: "We the People." Robert Tsai's gripping history of alternative constitutions invites readers into the circle of those who have rejected this ringing assertion--the defiant groups that refused to accept the Constitution's definition of who "the people" are and how their authority should be exercised. America's Forgotten Constitutions is the story of America as told by dissenters: squatters, Native Americans, abolitionists, socialists, internationalists, and racial nationalists. Beginning in the nineteenth century, Tsai chronicles eight episodes in which discontented citizens took the extraordinary step of drafting a new constitution. He examines …


Arendtian Action And The Camp: Understanding The Connection Between Totalitarianism And Politics, Corey Dethier Feb 2012

Arendtian Action And The Camp: Understanding The Connection Between Totalitarianism And Politics, Corey Dethier

Corey Dethier

This paper argues for a reconceptualization of Arendt's concept of action based on her account of and experience with totalitarianism. Using Origins of Totalitarianism as a guide to what Arendt sees as the breakdown of a functioning society, it reconstructs her conception of politics found inThe Human Condition and On Revolution to show that what Arendt aims for is a form of government that can prevent the spread of totalitarianism and its characteristics. From this perspective, it argues that Arendt's concepts of politics and action are designed to create a public aware of its plurality and primarily concerned with protecting …