Local Government in Early America

Reviews / Votes

An examination of local government in colonial America is the occasion for Janiskee (California State Univ., San Bernardino) to voice an 'originalist' understanding of the purposes of local governments in a larger polity whose legitimacy rests on natural rights. He describes and contrasts these governments in early America, and then turns to the views on local government found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Janiskee concludes that Jefferson and Adams agreed that these immediate and direct modes of government should be seen as 'part of a seamless fabric that would keep the [larger] republic. . .close to its animating principles.' Neither local autonomy nor the civic virtues generated by public deliberation and administration stand foremost; rather, the Revolution proved that the townships are the first line in the defense against foreign tyranny and serve, after the Revolution, as the last line against domestic tyranny. So should they be seen today. A useful contrast is J. S. Maloy, The Colonial American Origins of Modern Democratic Thought (CH, Jul'09, 46-6466), a much richer historical and theoretical analysis, where institutional forms of accountability and trust serve as the foundation of American democratic values. Recommended. * Choice Reviews * An examination of local government in colonial America is the occasion for Janiskee (California State Univ., San Bernardino) to voice an 'originalist' understanding of the purposes of local governments in a larger polity whose legitimacy rests on naturalrights. He describes and contrasts these governments in early America, and then turns to the views on local government found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Janiskee concludes that Jefferson and Adams agreed that these immediate and direct modes of government should be seen as 'part of a seamless fabric that would keep the [larger] republic. . .close to its animating principles.' Neither local autonomy nor the civic virtues generated by public deliberation and administration stand foremost; rather, the Revolution proved that the townships are the first line in the defense against foreign tyranny and serve, after the Revolution, as the last line against domestic tyranny. So should they be seen today. A useful contrast is J. S. Maloy, The Colonial American Origins of Modern Democratic Thought (CH, Jul'09, 46-6466), a much richer historical and theoretical analysis, where institutional forms of accountability and trust serve as the foundation of American democratic values. Recommended. * Choice Reviews *