Ambition in America
eBook - ePub

Ambition in America

Political Power and the Collapse of Citizenship

  1. 210 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Ambition in America

Political Power and the Collapse of Citizenship

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

Most Americans admire the determination and drive of artists, athletes, and CEOs, but they seem to despise similar ambition in their elected officials. The structure of political representation and the separation of powers detailed in the United States Constitution were intended to restrain self-interested ambition. Because not all citizens have a desire to rule, republican democracies must choose leaders from pools of ambitious candidates while trying to prevent those same people from exploiting public power to dominate the less ambitious.

Ambition in America: Political Power and the Collapse of Citizenship is an engaging examination of this rarely studied yet significant phenomenon. Author Jeffrey A. Becker explores how American political institutions have sought to guide, inspire, and constrain citizens' ambitions to power. Detailing the Puritans' government by "moral community, " the Founders' attempts to curtail ambition, the influence of Jacksonian populism, and twentieth-century party politics, Becker presents an unfolding drama that culminates in a spirited discussion of the deficiencies in the current political system.
This groundbreaking work reassesses the value and role of ambition in politics in order to identify the beliefs and practices that threaten self-government, as well as those that can strengthen democratic politics.

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Information

Publisher
The University Press of Kentucky
Year
2014
ISBN
9780813145051
Topic
Politics & International Relations
Subtopic
American Government
Index
Politics & International Relations

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half title
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Preface: The Triumph of Ambition and the Collapse of Citizenship?
  8. Introduction: The Paradox of Power in America
  9. 1. The Ambition of Moral Citizens: Belonging and the Limits of the Moral Community
  10. 2. The Ambition of Interests: American Constitutionalism
  11. 3. The Ambition of Popular Control: Jacksonian Democracy and American Populism
  12. 4. The Ambition to Recover Democratic Excellence: Tocqueville and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  13. 5. To Flatter and Obey: The Triumph of Ambition
  14. 6. Keeping Ambition Accountable: A Place for Political Parties
  15. Conclusion: The Collapse of Modern Citizenship
  16. Acknowledgments
  17. Notes
  18. Bibliography
  19. Index