Reed Fagan’s Reviews > Democracy in America > Status Update

The Federal Constitution.

"But in the exercise of his authority [the President] is not perfectly independent; the Senate takes cognizance of his relations with foreign powers, and of his distribution of public appointments, so that he can neither corrupt nor be corrupted." -p.121

Oh, really? 🤦

The Federal Constitution.
I don't believe I learned hitherto that the object of forming the Senate was to preserve the states' authority while that of forming the House was to preserve the nation's authority. Hence all states have equal representation in the Senate. Very interesting. T acknowledges this division isn't "logical" but it serves to act as yet another check on power.

Political Jurisdiction in the US.
American "political jurisdiction...[may be]...the most formidable weapon [ever] placed in the grasp of a majority. When the American republics begin to degenerate, [we can test if this is true by] whether the number of political impeachments is increased." -p111
T lauds that impchmnt means poltcns face only pol. consqncs. In France it's also always crimnl, thus less likely to be used

"But the American judge is brought into the political arena independently of his own will. He judges the law only because he is obliged to judge a case."-p.103
John Oliver this wk pointed out the danger of SCOTUS' discretionary power over which cases they ignore & esp which cases they elevate & expedite rulings on, i.e. "the shadow docket".

Judicial Power in the United States.
"by intimately uniting the trial of the law with the trial of an individual, legislation is protected from wanton assaults and from the daily aggressions of party spirit."-p.102

Townships & Municipal Bodies.
T claims it is politics at the town level that is the secret sauce of America. The buy-in/ownership/initiative there is genuine and enlivened in ways not true in much of Europe in his opinion, where generations of top-down governance makes ppl "subjects" rather than "citizens". NB, T extrapolates to all America from seeing mainly Mass. towns.

"It is to be remembered, too, that the affections of men generally turn towards power." -p. 66, Alexis de Tolkien 🤭

Townships and Municipal Bodies.
"No idea was ever entertained of attacking the principal or contesting the rights of society; but the exercise of its authority was divided, in order that the office might be powerful and the officer insignificant, and that the community should be at once regulated and free. In no [other] country in the world... is the right of applying [the law] vested in so many hands." -p.71

Sovereignty of the People.

"When a nation begins to modify the elective qualification, it may easily be foreseen that, sooner or later, that qualification will be entirely abolished...no stop can be made short of universal suffrage." -p. 57
Suffrage ended up going further than T might have been able to conceive.

"The people reign in the American political world as the Deity does in the universe." -p. 58

Social Condition of the Anglo-Americans.
T marvels how Americans don't face the classism of aristocracy (frequent sale of inherited land & assumption of new professions keeps ppl from amassing inordinate wealth over others) yet also don't succumb to despotic governance & illiberty w/o aristocratic powers to oppose such.
"Their circumstances, origin, intelligence & morals establish & maintain their freedom."-54, parap