Redeeming American Democracy: Lessons from the Confederate Constitution - Hardcover

Derosa, Marshall

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1589804724 ISBN 13: 9781589804722

Publisher: Pelican Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

How to bring the power back to the people be decentralization. The warring ideas of centralization and decentralization are at the core of modern political debates about the national economy, U.S. foreign policy, and citizens� cultural values�just as they were among our Founding Fathers. With the election of Abraham Lincoln, the concept and practice of centralization in U.S. government gained power. In contrast, the Confederate constitution carried decentralization even further than the original Constitution and added a number of features that could stand us in good stead in this time of big government and excessive rules.

About this title

About the Author

The warring ideas of centralization and decentralization are at the core of modern political debates about the national economy, U.S. foreign policy, and citizens’ cultural values―just as they were among our Founding Fathers. With the election of Abraham Lincoln, the concept and practice of centralization in U.S. government gained power. In contrast, the Confederate constitution carried decentralization even further than the original Constitution and added a number of features that could stand us in good stead in this time of big government and excessive rules.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Redeeming American Democracy: Lessons from the Confederate Constitution:

"The North's victory in the War to Prevent Southern Independence destroyed the voluntary union of the founders and made all Americans servants rather than masters of their own government. In Redeeming American Democracy Marshall DeRosa explains in great detail how and why this came about. It was the Confederate Constitution that was the 'last best hope' of we the people to control our government by reaffirming the original American design of federalism, States' rights, and citizen control of government. Read this book and learn why the 'Principles of '61' may be our last chance to save America."
--Thomas DiLorenzo, author of The Real Lincoln and Lincoln Unmasked

"Today the U.S. Constitution is claimed by the highest authorities to justify everything it was intended to prevent. . . . Professor DeRosa goes boldly into territory where no one has ventured before and few have even known existed. Like an intrepid explorer of lands forgotten by time, he comes back with fresh knowledge--knowledge that Americans can use to save liberty and the rule of law under constitutional government--if they only will."
--Clyde Wilson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, University of South Carolina, editor of The Papers of John C. Calhoun and The Writings of John Taylor of Caroline

"DeRosa shows that the federal government's massive intrusion into the reserved powers of the States, creating a spirit-numbing mass society; the plundering of the people's wealth through uncontrollable pork spending, subsidies, and regulations; the refusal to enforce our immigration laws; and the transference of American sovereignty to supranational organizations would have been very difficult under the Confederate Constitution. We are left to ponder what a loss it was that Americans did not have the opportunity to choose between two competing American constitutions." --Donald Livingston, Professor of Philosophy, Emory University
Author Marshall L. DeRosa is a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University.

From the Inside Flap

The quintessential question regarding government's role in America has always been: will decisions be made in the communities where people live or in Washington, D.C.?

These warring ideas of centralization and decentralization form the core of modern political debates about the national economy, U.S. foreign policy, and citizens' cultural values--just as they did with our Founding Fathers.

Here, distinguished scholar Marshall L. DeRosa, an expert on the Confederate Constitution, describes why and how the truly democratic principles of the Confederate States of America are relevant and applicable today.

DeRosa's examination of the rise and fall of the Confederacy; his suggestion for current-day secession, now championed by libertarians as a solution for states to regain their individual power; and his emphatic call for Americans to become self-governing in order to restore our original democracy offer a radical yet realistic opportunity for citizens to participate in our nation's much-needed redemption.

Marshall L. DeRosa is a professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University. His expertise includes American constitutional law and policymaking, international law, and the judicial process. This is his first book with Pelican.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pelican Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1589804724
• ISBN 13: 9781589804722
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192