Reviews of Books

James Madison's Political and Constitutional Thought Reconsidered

Stuart Leibiger

The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vols. 4–5, October 1802–October 1803. Edited by J.C.A. STAGG et al. (Charlottesville and London: The University Press of Virginia, 1998; 2000. Pp. xliv, 673; xxxviii, 643. $65.00; $67.50.)

The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vols. 2–4, October 1809–July 1812. Edited by J.C.A. STAGG et al. (Charlottesville and London: The University Press of Virginia, 1992; 1996; 1999. Pp. xlvi, 647; xliv, 584; xliv, 675. $50.00; $55.00; $65.00.)

As early as the eighteenth century among Federalists and until as recently as the 1980s among scholars, conventional wisdom held that James Madison pursued an erratic course through the early national period, waffling from strident nationalism in the 1780s to states' rights in the 1790s and back to nationalism in the early nineteenth century. The publication during the past three decades of twenty-six volumes of The Papers of James Madison, running through the year 1803 (plus most of the first term of his presidency), has prepared the ground for a reassessment of this all-important founder. Drawing on this treasure trove of source material, a number of historians, most notably Lance Banning and Drew McCoy, have shifted the consensus in Madison's favor, persuasively arguing that Madison did adhere rather consistently to fundamental political and constitutional principles. These principles include Madison's scrupulous commitment to personal rights, to the republican form of government, and to the Constitution as understood by the American people when they ratified it in 1788. Debate still rages, however, as to whether Madison was influenced more heavily by Lockean liberalism or by classical republicanism.	1
Like other recent works, Garrett Ward Sheldon's The Political Philosophy of James Madison searches for "underlying coherence" (p. xi) in the founder's thought. Sheldon, John Morton Beatty Professor of Political and Social Science at the University of Virginia's College at Wise, attempts to synthesize and reconcile much of the new Madison scholarship and also provides new insights into Madison's thinking. Sheldon's thesis is that throughout his career, Madison oscillated between nationalist liberalism and states' rights republicanism depending on whether the states or the federal government at the time posed the greater threat to American liberty. Underlying these two shifting strains in Madison's thought Sheldon discerns a bedrock ideology: a Calvinist belief in the fundamental sinfulness of human beings. Owing to man's flawed and imperfect nature, government was essential, and to be effective, it must check, balance, and neutralize the human proclivity to sin.	2
In the most original part of the book, Sheldon discusses the heavy impact of the evangelical Calvinism of the Great Awakening on Madison. Attending John Witherspoon's lectures at the College of New Jersey shaped the young Virginian's worldview. Under Witherspoon's tutelage, Madison became much more religious than is commonly recognized, absorbing Presbyterian doctrines of human depravity and the necessity of balanced government. Sheldon maintains that Madison's "political theory cannot be understood apart from his theology" (p. 23) learned at Princeton. After completing his studies and returning to his native state, Madison found to his disgust a worldly and uninspired Anglican establishment persecuting adherents of the Baptist and Presbyterian faiths. His ensuing crusade for freedom of religion, contends Sheldon, was driven not by religious impartiality but by sympathy for oppressed evangelicals. In an environment of free expression, Madison expected his own favorite version of Christianity to flourish.	. . .