PS 201 Fall, 1998

Introduction to US Politics

Anti-Federalist and Federalist Models of a Republic
Dimension	Anti-Federalist	Federalist
size	small	large
nature of representation	representatives like and closely connected with those represented	a filter selecting the best representatives (the "natural aristocracy") and putting them at a distance from the represented
sovereignty	the Union conceived primarily as a confederation of sovereign states; this should be preserved as much as possible	the Union as an indissoluble unity of the states, making citizenship essentially national and sovereignty a relationship between the people and the federal government
goal of legislative deliberation	identification of the common interest; the maintenance or restoration of amity--thus protracted discord is undesirable	balancing of contending interests; trade-offs; regulated conflict--thus protracted discord is expected and must be managed
basis of governmental legitimacy	public trust based on close ties between representatives and citizens (subjective bonds)	public trust based on effective administration (objective results)
primary danger	the tyranny of elites exercised through "aristocratic" and "consolidated" government	the tyranny of majorities, chiefly against the rights of property, exercised through overly democratic government
basic solution to primary danger	Concentrate power in the legislature and keep the legislators close to the citizenry	"checks and balances"; a large republic of diverse interests; and representation as a filter, all in order to prevent effective majorities from forming or at least from persisting long enough to carry through their programs

Some Possible Types of Republics
		Egalitarian & Democratic?
		Yes	No
Size	Small	democratic (at least for those included in the franchise) Anti-Federalist	hierarchic Anti-Federalist
	Large	??	Federalist ("elite pluralism")