Overview
C. Gordon Post's edition of Calhoun's political writings is enhanced in this reissue by Shannon Stimson's new Foreword, examining changing perspectives on Calhoun, and a new Bibliography. Now, as in his own time, Calhoun's voice resonates to fundamental concerns of our democratic polity: the nature of man, the obligations of government, and - most keenly - how best to safeguard the interest of a minority against the will of democratic majorities. His doctrine of concurrent majority and a minority veto - although employed to defend the South's commitment to slavery in pre-bellum nineteenth-century America - strikes at enduring questions of how a diverse, and sometimes divided, society can maintain its integrity while honoring the interests of all its citizens.Synopsis
C. Gordon Post's edition of Calhoun's political writings is enhanced in this reissue by Shannon Stimson's new Foreword, examining changing perspectives on Calhoun, and a new Bibliography. Now, as in his own time, Calhoun's voice resonates to fundamental concerns of our democratic polity: the nature of man, the obligations of government, and - most keenly - how best to safeguard the interest of a minority against the will of democratic majorities. His doctrine of concurrent majority and a minority veto - although employed to defend the South's commitment to slavery in pre-bellum nineteenth-century America - strikes at enduring questions of how a diverse, and sometimes divided, society can maintain its integrity while honoring the interests of all its citizens.