The Use and Abuse of the Classics in American Constitutionalism
![handle is hein.journals/chknt66 and id is 61 raw text is: THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE CLASSICS IN AMERICAN
CONSTITUTIONALISM
WILLIAM A. GALSTON*
It may well be thought an understatement to say that the Founders'
stance toward classical Greece and Rome was one of complex ambiva-
lence; barely qualified hostility may seem closer to the mark. To sim-
plify an otherwise intractable question, let us begin by taking The
Federalist as our guide.
In the eighty five papers that constitute the most authoritative de-
fense of the new American science of politics, classical political thought
is conspicuous by its near-complete absence. There are no references to
Aristotle, none to Cicero, and just one passing mention of Polybius' de-
scription of Carthage, for the sole purpose of bolstering the contention
that the popular branch of the legislature will tend to usurp power
from the Senate.
Two other references are somewhat weightier. In No. 49, Madison
remarks that a nation of philosophers is as little to be expected as the
philosophical race of kings wished for by Plato. 1 The context is a discus-
sion of Jefferson's proposal for frequent conventions to amend, or to cor-
rect breaches of, popularly based constitutions. Madison argues against
this, in part on the grounds that in practice all governments rest on opin-
ion rather than reason. If a particularly favorable constitutional mo-
ment, in which public opinion is exceptionally wise and moderate,
happens to enshrine a sound basic structure, it is risky to allow funda-
mental issues to be reopened too readily. Madison's reason deserves full
quotation: [A]s every appeal to the people would carry an implication
of some defect in the government, frequent appeals would, in great mea-
sure, deprive the government of that veneration which time bestows on
everything, and without which perhaps the wisest and freest governments
would not possess the requisite stability.'2
It is hard to read this passage without recalling Aristotle's discus-
sion of Hippodamus, the expert city planner and amateur political phi-
Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland at College Park; Senior Re-
search Scholar, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. B.A., 1967, Cornell University; M.A.,
1969, University of Chicago; Ph.D., 1973, University of Chicago.
1. THE FEDERALiST No. 49, at 315 (J. Madison)(C. Rossiter ed. 1961).
2. Id. at 314.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/chknt66&div=10&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Use and Abuse of the Classics in American Constitutionalism
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