The Federalists, the Antifederalists, and the American Political Tradition

In analyzing the debates between the Federalists and the Antifederalists, McWilliams, Gibbons, and their contributors break sharply with interpretations of the founding of America as either the work of pure pragmatists or as the institutionalization of class interests. This study of the very nature of modern representative democracy explains past and present dilemmas and contradictions in terms of Federalist and Antifederalist views. This examination of the political theory of the American founding deals with differing beliefs about pluralist interests and political compromise, human nature, the public good and the public sphere, the relationship between polity and economy, the role of religion in politics, and political traditions.

WILSON CAREY McWILLIAMS is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. He is the author ofThe Idea of Fraternity in America and numerous articles on political theory and American politics. McWilliams was the director of the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar from which most of these essays evolved.

MICHAEL T. GIBBONS is Associate Professor of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is the editor ofInterpreting Politics. Among his current research interests is the debate between the Federalists and the Antifederalists over the nature of the public sphere.