Blog & Community

AddThis Share Print
Home › Blog & Community › Community Members

Latest Blog Post

January 14, 2009

Patriotic attachments

Jefferson's letter to Cabell is one of the fullest elaborations of his federal theory (the other is another 1816 letter, to Samuel Kercheval). Advocates of "strong" or "participatory" democracy invoke these letters, usually acknowledging that they refer to local self-government in what Jefferson calls "ward republics," but without grasping the fuller implications of Jeffersonian federalism. I'd like to emphasize an apparent paradox.more »

Posted in: Jefferson Today, Thomas Jefferson Comments (2)
View all Peter Onuf's posts