Government by dissent : protest, resistance, and radical democratic thought in the early American republic / Robert W.T. Martin.

By:

Martin, Robert W. T. (Robert William Thomas), 1967-

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: New York : New York University Press, 2013.Description: 1 online resourceContent type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780814738863
0814738869

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Government by dissent.DDC classification:

973.3/18 23

LOC classification:

E310 .M37 2013eb

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

Regulation not rebellion : from "rough music" to democratic disorder -- "Secret plodders" : anti-federalism, anonymity, and the struggle for democratic dissent -- Institutionalizing counterpublicity : the democratic societies of the 1790s -- James Madison : public opinion and dissentient democracy -- "Salutary collisions" and multiple discourses : a farmer, two lawyers, and one unknown democrat -- "The saucy sons of enquiry" : Thomas Cooper and democratic dissent.

Summary: "Democracy is the rule of the people. But what exactly does it mean for a people to rule? Which practices and behaviors are legitimate, and which are democratically suspect? We generally think of democracy as government by consent; a government of, by, and for the people. This has been true from Locke through Lincoln to the present day. Yet in understandably stressing the importance--indeed, the monumental achievement--of popular consent, we commonly downplay or even denigrate the role of dissent in democratic governments. But in Government by Dissent, Robert W.T. Martin explores the idea that the people most important in a flourishing democracy are those who challenge the status quo. The American political radicals of the 1790s understood, articulated, and defended the crucial necessity of dissent to democracy. By returning to their struggles, successes, and setbacks, and analyzing their imaginative arguments, Martin recovers a more robust approach to popular politics, one centered on the ever-present need to challenge the status quo and the powerful institutions that both support it and profit from it. Dissent has rarely been the mainstream of democratic politics. But the figures explored here--forgotten farmers as well as revered framers--understood that dissent is always the essential undercurrent of democracy and is often the critical crosscurrent. Only by returning to their political insights can we hope to reinvigorate our own popular politics."--Publisher's description

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Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Materials specified	Status	Date due	Barcode
Electronic-Books	OPJGU Sonepat- Campus	E-Books EBSCO			Available

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

"Democracy is the rule of the people. But what exactly does it mean for a people to rule? Which practices and behaviors are legitimate, and which are democratically suspect? We generally think of democracy as government by consent; a government of, by, and for the people. This has been true from Locke through Lincoln to the present day. Yet in understandably stressing the importance--indeed, the monumental achievement--of popular consent, we commonly downplay or even denigrate the role of dissent in democratic governments. But in Government by Dissent, Robert W.T. Martin explores the idea that the people most important in a flourishing democracy are those who challenge the status quo. The American political radicals of the 1790s understood, articulated, and defended the crucial necessity of dissent to democracy. By returning to their struggles, successes, and setbacks, and analyzing their imaginative arguments, Martin recovers a more robust approach to popular politics, one centered on the ever-present need to challenge the status quo and the powerful institutions that both support it and profit from it. Dissent has rarely been the mainstream of democratic politics. But the figures explored here--forgotten farmers as well as revered framers--understood that dissent is always the essential undercurrent of democracy and is often the critical crosscurrent. Only by returning to their political insights can we hope to reinvigorate our own popular politics."--Publisher's description

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