Cords of Affection: Constructing Constitutional Union in Early American History (American Political Thought)

In Cords of Affection: Constructing Constitutional Union in Early American History Emily Pears investigates efforts by the founding generation's leadership to construct and strengthen political attachments in and among the citizens of the new republic. These emotional connections between citizens and their institutions were critical to the success of the new nation. The founders recognized that attachments do not form automatically and require constant tending. Emily Pears defines and develops a theory of political attachments based on an analysis of the approaches used in the founding era. In particular, she identifies three methods of political attachment--a utilitarian method, a cultural method, and a participatory method. Cords of Affection offers a comparative analysis of the theories and projects undertaken by a wide array of political leaders in the early republic and antebellum periods that exemplify each of the three methods. The work includes new historical analysis of the implementation of projects of nationalism and attachment, ranging from data on federal funding for internal improvements to analysis of Whig orations. In Cords of Affection Emily Pears offers lessons from history about the strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls of various approaches to constructing national political attachments. Twenty-first century Americans' attachments to their national government have waned. While there are multiple narratives of this decline, they all have the same core element: a citizenry unwilling to uphold the norms and institutions of American democracy in the face of challenge. When a demagogue, or a populist movement, or a foreign power threatens action that undermines American democracy, citizens will not come to its defense. Citizens cheer their own side, regardless of the means it uses, or they are simply apathetic to the role that institutions and institutional constraints play in keeping us all free and equal. At worst, Americans have come to regard their inherited constitutional foundations as unjust, biased, or ill-equipped for the modern world, and the notion of a shared political community as prejudicial and old-fashioned. They feel little sense of attachment to the American regime. By contrast the lessons in Cords of Affection allow us to consider a broader array of possible tools for the maintenance of today's political attachments.ISBN : 9780700632787 Winner: Best Book in American Political Thought, American Political Science Association, American Political Thought section In Cords of Affection: Constructing Constitutional Union in Early American History Emily Pears investigates efforts by the founding generation's leadership to construct and strengthen political attachments in and among the citizens of the new republic. These emotional connections between citizens and their institutions were critical to the success of the new nation. The founders recognized that attachments do not form automatically and require constant tending. Emily Pears defines and develops a theory of political attachments based on an analysis of the approaches used in the founding era. In particular, she identifies three methods of political attachment—a utilitarian method, a cultural method, and a participatory method. Cords of Affection offers a comparative analysis of the theories and projects undertaken by a wide array of political leaders in the early republic and antebellum periods that exemplify each of the three methods. The work includes new historical analysis of the implementation of projects of nationalism and attachment, ranging from data on federal funding for internal improvements to analysis of Whig orations. In Cords of Affection Emily Pears offers lessons from history about the strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls of various approaches to constructing national political attachments. Twenty-first century Americans' attachments to their national government have waned. While there are multiple narratives of this decline, they all have the same core element: a citizenry unwilling to uphold the norms and institutions of American democracy in the face of challenge. When a demagogue or a populist movement or a foreign power threatens action that undermines American democracy, citizens will not come to its defense. Citizens cheer their own side, regardless of the means it uses, or they are simply apathetic to the role that institutions and institutional constraints play in keeping us all free and equal. At worst, Americans have come to regard their inherited constitutional foundations as unjust, biased, or ill-equipped for the modern world, and the notion of a shared political community as prejudicial and old-fashioned. They feel little sense of attachment to the American regime. By contrast the lessons in Cords of Affection allow us to consider a broader array of possible tools for the maintenance of today's political attachments. In Cords of Affection: Constructing Constitutional Union in Early American History Emily Pears investigates efforts by the founding generation’s leadership to construct and strengthen political attachments in and among the citizens of the new republic. These emotional connections between citizens and their institutions were critical to the success of the new nation. The founders recognized that attachments do not form automatically and require constant tending. Emily Pears defines and develops a theory of political attachments based on an analysis of the approaches used in the founding era. In particular, she identifies three methods of political attachment—a utilitarian method, a cultural method, and a participatory method. Cords of Affection offers a comparative analysis of the theories and projects undertaken by a wide array of political leaders in the early republic and antebellum periods that exemplify each of the three methods. The work includes new historical analysis of the implementation of projects of nationalism and attachment, ranging from data on federal funding for internal improvements to analysis of Whig orations. In Cords of Affection Emily Pears offers lessons from history about the strengths, weaknesses, and pitfalls of various approaches to constructing national political attachments. Twenty-first century Americans’ attachments to their national government have waned. While there are multiple narratives of this decline, they all have the same core element: a citizenry unwilling to uphold the norms and institutions of American democracy in the face of challenge. When a demagogue, or a populist movement, or a foreign power threatens action that undermines American democracy, citizens will not come to its defense. Citizens cheer their own side, regardless of the means it uses, or they are simply apathetic to the role that institutions and institutional constraints play in keeping us all free and equal. At worst, Americans have come to regard their inherited constitutional foundations as unjust, biased, or ill-equipped for the modern world, and the notion of a shared political community as prejudicial and old-fashioned. They feel little sense of attachment to the American regime. By contrast the lessons in Cords of Affection allow us to consider a broader array of possible tools for the maintenance of todayâ€TMs political attachments. In Cords of Affection: Constructing Constitutional Union inEarly American History Emily Pears investigates efforts by thefounding generation's leadership to construct and strengthenpolitical attachments in and among the citizens of the newrepublic. These emotional connections between citizens and theirinstitutions were critical to the success of the new nation. Thefounders recognized that attachments do not form automatically andrequire constant tending. Emily Pears defines and develops a theoryof political attachments based on an analysis of the approachesused in the founding era. In particular, she identifies threemethods of political attachment-a utilitarian method, a culturalmethod, and a participatory method. Cords of Affectionoffers a comparative analysis of the theories and projectsundertaken by a wide array of political leaders in the earlyrepublic and antebellum periods that exemplify each of the threemethods. The work includes new historical analysis of theimplementation of projects of nationalism and attachment, rangingfrom data on federal funding for internal improvements to analysisof Whig orations. In Cords of Affection Emily Pears offerslessons from history about the strengths, weaknesses, and pitfallsof various approaches to constructing national politicalattachments. Twenty-first century Americans' attachments to theirnational government have waned. While there are multiple narrativesof this decline, they all have the same core element: a citizenryunwilling to uphold the norms and institutions of Americandemocracy in the face of challenge. When a demagogue, or a populistmovement, or a foreign power threatens action that underminesAmerican democracy, citizens will not come to its defense. Citizenscheer their own side, regardless of the means it uses, or they aresimply apathetic to the role that institutions and institutionalconstraints play in keeping us all free and equal. At worst,Americans have come to regard their inherited constitutionalfoundations as unjust, biased, or ill-equipped for the modernworld, and the notion of a shared political community asprejudicial and old-fashioned. They feel little sense of attachmentto the American regime. By contrast the lessons in Cords ofAffection allow us to consider a broader array of possibletools for the maintenance of todayâ€TMs political attachments "American democracy seems to be running on empty. Beyond our falling faith in institutions, Americans seem to have lost trust in one another and faith in our common political enterprise. Polarization, culture wars, and protest movements have called into question our personal commitments to the constitutional community and the content of that union. Political commentators offer a huge array of descriptions of the actual problem-from polarization to anti-establishment cultural movements, and an even broader array of proposed solutions ranging from the impractical to the apocalyptic. While some of these proposals are promising, few are adequately grounded in the deep history of American politics and American political thought in particular. Emily Pears argues that a part of what we are facing today is a weakening of political attachments. Defined as the deep-seated and instinctual emotional connections between individuals and their constitutional union, attachments have long been the foundation on which our voluntary, republican society is based. But attachments are not formed automatically and require tending to maintain their strength. Pears looks back to the American Founding, a time when attachments were particularly weak, to understand how such attachments might be constructed and nurtured today. Cords of Affection explores three main mechanisms for developing and sustaining political attachments: the utilitarian use of material self-interest, the use of historical narrative to create a shared cultural identity, and the participatory use of political parties and direct democracy. While no strategy has proved successful in itself, the history of attachment-building provides lessons and resources for reforging a unified American political community today"-- Provided by publisher Cover Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. The Problem of Political Attachments in the American Founding 3. Utility, Union, and the Attachment of Self-Interest 4. Forging Attachments through Historical Narrative 5. Parties, Participation, and the Natural Attachments of Direct Democracy 6. Conclusion Notes Index Back Cover