federalism

is a twisting of the rhetoric of republicanism to create a liberal representative government based upon an elitist theory of democracy.

Wood argues that the Federalist twisted the rhetoric of republicanism to create a liberal representative government based upon an 'elitist theory of democracy.' Wood's central concern is with the meaning and requirements of republican government, and with the kind of representation appropriated to it.

is grounded in the awareness of the economic and social changes then transforming American society.

For this reason, many later scholars have argued that the Federalist were more aware of the economic and social changes then transforming American society. The most famous example of Federalist doctrine is The Federalist Papers, . . .

is neither elitist democracy nor interest group theoretics. Rather, it's the belief that the purpose of representation was to improve upon direct democracy by refining the interests and opinions of the people.

In this article, I shall argue that the Federalist believed that the purpose of representation was to improve upon direct democracy by refining the interests and opinions of the people. This does not make them either elitist democrats (as opposed to republicans) or interest group theoreticians. In fact, if any group was primarily concerned with the actual representation of distinct economic interests, it was the Anti-federalist. To this end, we shall examine the views of two leading Anti-federalist, Melancton Smith and Richard Henry Lee, and the two most prominent (and frequently misunderstood) Federalist, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. As we shall see, their views

is grounded in the opinion that the public good was not ultimately related to virtue, but rather, was merely the sum total of private conflicting interests.

search, I nevertheless disagree with both their interpretations. I am not persuaded that the Federalist believed that the purpose of representation was the representation of interests simply, or that they saw the public good as the sum total of private conflicting interests. Nor am I convinced by Wood's argument that republican government requires a homogeneity of interests to bind the representative to his constituents or by Pole's insistence that 'equal and numerical representation' provides the only foundation' for republican government. There may be compelling reasons for departing from the principle of 'one man-one vote.' Madison offers us one. To the extent that he defended the unequal representation of interests, his concern was not with pro

federalism, n.Definitions

federalism