Political Theory of a Compound Republic - 3rd Edition by Vincent Ostrom & Barbara Allen (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Political Theory of a Compound Republic presents the essential logic of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton's design of limited, distributed, constitutional authority proposed inThe Federalist. Two revised and expanded ensuing chapters show how the idea of constitutional ...

Book Synopsis

The Political Theory of a Compound Republic presents the essential logic of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton's design of limited, distributed, constitutional authority proposed inThe Federalist. Two revised and expanded ensuing chapters show how the idea of constitutional choice has been employed since the adoption of the 1789 Constitution of the United States. A new concluding chapter questions commonly accepted beliefs about sovereign nation-states and considers governance from the perspective of twenty-first century "citizen-sovereigns."

Review Quotes

This update of a classic exposition of the Federalist and its contemporary relevance is a welcome relief from narrow notions of administrative federalism and hierarchical intergovernmental relations.Vincent Ostrom is a preeminent champion of multiple centers of power and overlapping jurisdictions as constituting key elements of a republic of liberty and constitutional choice for democratic citizens.

Those who teach and write about the founding of the United State have generally come to regard the Federalist Papers as the best commentary for understanding the meaning and intent underlying the U.S. Constitution. I suspect that, over time, many of those same people will come to regard Vincent Ostrom's The Political Theory of a Compound Republic as the best guide for understanding the coherent theory that underlies and ties together the Federalist Papers. It is already one of the four of five indispensible works in publc choice theory along with such works as James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock's The Calculus of Consent. This new revision by Ostrom and Allen will also, I predict, become a classic in public choice theory.

Vincent Ostrom is well known as a profound and philosophical student of American government. This revised version of his basic book will be welcomed by almost everyone. People who are already familiar with his work and people who are not, but who should be will learn a good deal from reading this improved version. Not only will they learn, but they will probably enjoy it. It is not only profound but also very well written.

About the Author

Vincent Ostrom is Arthur F. Bentley Professor Emeritus of Political Science and founding director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Barbara Allen is professor, former chair of the Department of Political Science, and former Director of Women's Studies at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota.