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Tandy McConnell

Tandy McConnell. Charles Ezra Daniel Professor of History Columbia College tmcconnell@columbiasc.edu 704.497.5833 (mobile). ORIGINS. OF THE CONSTITUTION. Lets assume general agreement that the purpose of a government is to:.

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Tandy McConnell

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  1. Tandy McConnell Charles Ezra Daniel Professor of History Columbia College tmcconnell@columbiasc.edu 704.497.5833 (mobile)

  2. ORIGINS OF THE CONSTITUTION

  3. Lets assume general agreement that the purpose of a government is to:

  4. . . . establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, . . .

  5. If that is the goal, what kinds of governments are possible?

  6. Democracy

  7. Monarchy

  8. Aristocracy

  9. And the rest. . . • Chiefdom, Autocracy, Dictatorship, Military Junta, Plutocracy, Theocracy, Representative Democracy, Police State, Totalitarian State, Oligarchy, . . .

  10. Which is “best”?

  11. The Parable of the Cave • Plato’s Republic is governed by the enlightened.

  12. Aristotle started with concrete examples—the cities of Greece.

  13. Aristotle •  "The end of politics is the best of ends; and the main concern of politics is to engender a certain character in the citizens and to make them good and disposed to perform noble actions.“ • Nicomachean Ethics1099b30

  14. The telos of politics. . . • Is to create an environment in which we can fulfill our own telos. BUT • Do we really want the government interested in making us “good”

  15. The question is not how many people rule. . . • But whether they govern in the interest of the citizens—that they should achieve their telos—or in their own interest.

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