On the Imperative of Civil Discourse: Lessons from Alexander Hamilton and Federalist No. 1
![handle is hein.journals/pstscrpt94 and id is 32 raw text is: ON THE IMPERATIVE OF CIVIL
DISCOURSE: LESSONS FROM
ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND
FEDERALIST NO. 1
DONALD J. KOCHAN*
INTRODUCTION
There is great fragility in the maintenance of civil discourse. History
tells us that it can, and will, fracture, counseling vigilance in its defense. And,
that commitment requires revisiting from time to time valuable insights from
great minds of the past who have pondered why civil discourse is so vital to
productive political debate and healthy social growth. This Essay takes on
that charge, exploring one source of such wisdom-the thoughts of
Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 1,1 published on October 27, 1787, as
the first essay in what would become known as The Federalist Papers. It is
an especially relevant source to revisit when so much of the polarized debate
in today's society involves topics discussed in other parts of The Federalist
Papers, leading to invocation of those very papers in many current debates.
The collected essays are getting new readers as politicians and citizens more
regularly invoke them as authoritative sources on the meanings of
impeachment, high crimes and misdemeanors, emoluments, separation of
powers, and other constitutional concepts of resurging importance.
Quite often, political and legal discussions risk falling prey to tribal
positioning and highly polarized rhetoric. While these bugs have
undoubtedly infected discourse and poisoned civility since the beginning of
time, some see them as more intense and rising in recent years. Precisely
* Professor of Law and Deputy Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center, Antonin
Scalia Law School at George Mason University; Nonresident Scholar, Georgetown Center for the
Constitution.
1. THE FEDERALIST No. 1 (Alexander Hamilton). An electronic version of Federalist No. 1 is
available as part of The Avalon Project at Yale Law School at https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th-Century/fe
dOl.asp [https://perma.cc/NK4Z-QHYT].
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On the Imperative of Civil Discourse: Lessons from Alexander Hamilton and Federalist No. 1
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