On the election of the United States' first African-American president Guest commentary Barack Obama's inauguration opens another chapter in the history of race relations in the United States. He is very fond of quoting Abraham Lincoln, and seems his natural heir. Certainly the victory that Lincoln...
"A nation, by establishing a character of liberality and magnanimity, gains in the friendship and respect of others more than the worth of mere money." --Thomas Jefferson, Special Message, January 13, 1806.
"A nation, by establishing a character of liberality and magnanimity, gains in the friendship and respect of others more than the worth of mere money." --Thomas Jefferson, Special Message, January 13, 1806.
Guest commentary "man ... feels that he is a participator in the government of affairs, not merely at an election one day in the year, but every day..." --Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Cabell, February 2, 1816 There's a lot that is appealing in Jefferson's observation, with its expression of an ideal...
Guest commentary When Jefferson penned these words he was thinking of the kind of participatory "ward" democracy that took place in New England town meetings, the kind of democracy that still only takes place in small towns where people personally discuss and vote on issues relating to their...
Guest commentary 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...
Guest commentary man ... feels that he is a participator in the government of affairs, not merely at an election one day in the year, but every day... --Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Cabell, February 2, 1816 I think Jefferson's comment to Cabell is more the statement of an aspiration rather than a...
