Title

Democracy and Abundance: the Declining Middle and Postliberal Politics

Abstract

Democracy and abundance have almost always been at the heart of American ideals about the "good life." The framers of the constitution envisioned possible states of affairs in which the organization of resources and distribution of rights, responsibilities, and goods would realize these core values and generate legitimacy and consensus. Their concept of democracy defined what American society was and what it should become. Various advocates proposed social and political changes that seemed possible and even "necessary" to important segments of the citizenry. Jefferson's participatory democratic vision stressed equality and plenty. Its self-governing citizenry were primarily agricultural independent producers, with a much smaller contingent of artisans, petty manufacturers, and merchants.

Department(s)

Sociology and Anthropology

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3817/0688076093

Publication Date

1988

Journal Title

Telos

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