Publius’s Political Science

Authors

John A. Ferejohn, New York University School of LawFollow
Roderick M. Hills Jr., New York University School of LawFollow

Files

Description

How does Publius’s treatment of politics in The Federalist measure up as “political science”? On one hand, the purpose of the essays was more polemical than scientific. The Federalist sought to persuade New Yorkers to adopt the proposed Constitution rather than to evaluate it from an entirely dispassionate stance. Yet Publius’s rhetorical method necessarily required predictions about the ways in which the new institutions would work. The Federalist necessarily made use of positive (empirically based) political science to ground normative political arguments to defend the novel constitutional scheme.

Source Publication

The Cambridge Companion to The Federalist

Source Editors/Authors

Jack N. Rakove, Colleen A. Sheehan

Publication Date

2020

Recommended Citation

Ferejohn, John A. and Hills, Roderick M. Jr., "Publius’s Political Science" (2020). Faculty Chapters. 485.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/485