Abstract: Estragon: No more weeping. Vladimir: Or perhaps it's not the season. Estragon: Looks to me more like a bush. Vladimir: A shrub. Estragon: A bush. Vladimir: A . What are you insinuating? That we've come to the wrong place? Estragon: He should be here. Vladimir: He didn't say for sure he'd come. Estragon: And if he doesn't come? Vladimir: We'll come back to-morrow. Estragon: And then the day after to-morrow? Vladimir: Possibly. Estragon: And so on.

Abstract: For Tocqueville, modern democracy needs religion to combat two dangers of unbridled equality: individualism and materialism. Most students of Tocqueville assume that by religion, he meant a civil or mythical religion as opposed to revealed religion. This article, however, contends that Tocqueville intended the term "religion" to refer to nothing less than what we know as traditional organized religion. His account of revealed religion as commonly found, the author insists, has been mistaken for an attempt to propagate social myths.

Abstract: Clearly there may be resistance to unanimous decisions, e.g., Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 484 (1954), as well as those which are minimum winning. Because of this possible resistance, it may be advantageous for decisions and opinions of the Court to be decided by a large majority.2 Moreover, a minimum winning majority opinion is likely to result in an unstable precedent for the Court, which might be overturned if membership changes or if one of the justices in the majority changes his mind. Given the possible undesirability of minimum winning decisions and opinions, the majority opinion assigner might attempt to use his opinion assigning power to generate a final decision and an opinion that are larger than minimum winning. To understand how the size of the final decision or the opinion coalition can be enlarged, we describe the Court's opinion assignment proc-

Abstract: A bipartisan consensus about the means and ends of American foreign policy is generally thought to have been part of the American political environment during the Cold War era. This consensus is al...

Abstract: Many political theorists argue that Karl Marx subscribed to a "myth of individualism" and thus failed to appreciate the importance of republicanism in the modern world. This article faults that interpretation and claims instead that Marx's theory and practice are unintelligible unless republicanism is seen as a central concern. The author insists further that an examination of Marx's critique of republicanism is not merely of historiographical significance but also yields important lessons for contemporary republican and communitarian theorists.

Abstract: Relations among commuities, whether among small groups or even among states, are not analogous, this article argues, to the relations among individuals in the state of nature. Hobbes's scattered references to such matters, the author contends, can be notionally distinguished into three categories: first, relations in the hypothetical state of nature; second, relations in the historical state of nature; and third, relations among civil societies. In all three categories, certain constraints serve to regulate the manner and mode of conduct among non-social communities in the state of nature and among states in the civil condition. The author insists that none of these can be fruitfully compared to the unmitigated war of all against all without severe qualifications.

Abstract: Progressive reformers at the turn of the century cast political party leaders as "bosses' and "hacks;" these days party leaders are more politely but just as cussedly described as "elites." They are remote and unrepresentative figures who manipulate power to serve narrow and selfish partisan interests alien to the general good of the democratic mass. This article challenges this caricature. It compares party leaders and follows with respect to their respective policy preferences and ideological beliefs over a period of three presidential elections, and the picture that emerges at once contradicts and is much more complex than that painted by the champions of direct democracy.

Abstract: This article challenges interpretations of Rousseau's Emile that see its program of female education as inconsistent with that of males and with Rousseau's general principles. Using Rousseau's definition of freedom, the author explores how the educations of both sexes aim at creating interdependencies rather than self-sufficiency or slavery and concludes that Emile is not as free, nor Sophie as enslaved, as some have argued. The differences in their educations are seen as appealing to identical understandings of the human condition and development, freedom and dependence, happiness and suffering, and the tasks of politics.

Abstract: Most supporters of the established church in eighteenth-century England defended it with arguments consistent with their Whiggish or Lockean liberalism, which required respect for liberty of conscience. This article surveys a number of such arguments, among them that of David Hume, who, despite his notorious anticlericalism, advocated the establishment of religion as necessary for social stability. It then explores several opposing arguments for religious liberty, focusing on Adam Smith's contention that free competition will lead to improvement and progress in religion as in other areas. Finally, the author asks why Hume should have disagreed with Smith on this issue, given his general acceptance of the free market doctrine.

Abstract: The need to strengthen political parties has been the conclusion of many studies of American politics. The difficulties in doing so and the problems of various reformist schemes have been well chronicled. This article steps back from the debate over strengthening parties to ask the empirical question, "What is a strong party?" Proceeding from the premise that the purpose of parties is to win elections, the author develops a political, rather than organizational, measure of party strength and tests it against demographic variables as explanations of the vote. He concludes that, while parties have some influence on electoral outcomes, their principal influence is in the period leading up to the election.

Abstract: Constitutional interpretation may be seen as a political process wherein deliberation centers on questions of the common good framed within the terms of a written constitution. This view contrasts ...

Abstract: John Winthrop, in the pristine conditions of original settlement, envisioned Boston as a beacon of virtue, a shining city upon a hill. By the end of World War II, however, the "hub" city of New England had become anything but that. This article examines the political coalition of business and other interests that came together behind tax reform that triggered the economic revitalization of Boston.

Abstract: "The great problem in American politics," E. E. Schattschneider writes, "is: What makes things happen? ... What is the process of change? What does change look like?" Schattschneider offered a theory of political conflict in answer to his question, but the more common response is some variant on the idea of cycles-of regular rhythms or recurring patterns-whose dynamic is the key to unlocking the mysteries of change in American politics. This article analyzes cyclical theories of politics, evaluates a number of them, and urges political scientists to take them more seriously.

Abstract: Henry David Thoreau was jailed in Concord, Massachusetts, for refusing to pay taxes to support the U.S. war with Mexico. But the imprisonment that troubled him more was that which restrained his fellows from becoming individuals or "natives." This article explores Thoreau's vision of individuality, his conception of the ideal self and how it is cultivated. The author puts Thoreau's writings on civil disobedience into a larger context of his concerns about nature, friendship, and individuality.

Abstract: Few scholars would regard Hobbes as a champion of the welfare state. Indeed, his welfare policies are commonly seen as harsh at worst and paternalistic at best. This article, however, offers another reading of Hobbes on welfare, one that leads not only to a different interpretation of his views on welfare but also to an unusual understanding of Hobbes's theory of the social contract and of inalienable rights.

Abstract: In recent years, scholars have rediscovered the importance of religious variables in explaining political attitudes and behavior. The rise of the New Christian Right focused attention on the beliefs and behaviors of white evangelical, fundamentalist, and charismatic Christians.1 A consensus has emerged from these studies that religious factors are important determinants of political orientations. These recent studies have employed new measures of religious variables which improve on the simple Protestant-Catholic-Jew distinctions of early studies. Denominational differences, including distinctions between evangelical, fundamentalist, charismatic, and mainstream Protestants,' doctrinal differences,3 religious identification,4 affect for televangelists,5 the role of a politicized

Abstract: Broadly speaking, three quite distinct approaches to liberalism have emerged in the past generation. At one end of the spectrum, we find perfectionist liberalism-the thesis that liberalism finds its justification, and its point, in a distinctive vision of the human good. In Joseph Raz's view, for example, liberalism "regards personal freedom as an aspect of the good life. It is a view of freedom deriving from the value of personal autonomy. " At the other end of the spectrum lies what may be called pragmatic liberalism-the thesis that liberalism can be understood as an agreement struck by symmetrically situated, self-interested individuals animated solely by prudential or strategic considerations. This is the view that Rawls calls "modus vivendi"; it is represented most comprehensively and persuasively in our time by David Gauthier.2 Between these two views lies what Charles Larmore has called political liberalism, represented most conspicuously by John Rawls as well as Larmore himself. As I cannot improve on Larmore's summary, I will simply quote it. Political liberalism "is a conception at once moral and minimal. It holds that the liberal principle of political neutrality toward controversial ideals of the good life finds its justification in certain moral com-

Abstract: Public dialogue in America seems increasingly to dress claims in the garb of rights. It is an awkward basis on which to conduct a dialogue, for the absolutist character of rights claims does more to inflame passions than to evoke reason. This article explores the rhetoric of rights that surrounds the issue of affirmative action and seeks to raise the debate to a different level. The author identifies a conceptual confusion within liberalism which leads to the view that individual and group rights are in conflict. This conflict, he argues, traces to the relationship of rights and justice, and he offers a theory of constitutive justice to resolve these difficulties.

Abstract: The Reagan Administration regularly prescribed the magic of the marketplace for Third World development: more liberal international trade and getting government out of the development business. The ideas of the American Founders were frequently invoked to support such policies. This article compares the Reagan prescriptions with those of American policy makers between 1776 and 1830. The author argues that the Founding Fathers were very much aware of the dangers that laissez-faire economics posed for a weak nation facing a powerful world and that they stressed the need for government involvement in building a strong national economy. She concludes that, correctly understood, the lessons of the American Founders could be instructive in current debates about Third World development.

Abstract: Marx's materialist critique of justice is often disparaged, this article argues, but seldom understood. The author shows that Marx's rejection of juridical categories is both intelligible and plausible and concludes that, far from being outlandish, Marx's view is accepted, albeit unconsciously, by so representative an ethical thinker as John Rawls. There would seem to be, he suggests, many distinguished vulgar materialists besides Marx.

Abstract: Was Ronald Reagan a great President? How do we know? This essay examines the standards of presidential greatness used by historians and political scientists over the years, measuring Reagan's presidency against them and them against the Reagan presidency.

Abstract: In the 1950s, state and federal judges united to lobby Congress for jurisdictional reform in habeas corpus procedures. This article examines the activities of these judges who sought to change public policy and legal procedure through political rather than adjudicative methods. They failed, the author argues, because in the end Congress believed the protection of individual rights in these matters to be more important than the relief of political and administrative tensions arising out of judicial federalism.

Abstract: The 1987 Iran-Contra hearings revived longstanding tensions in American politics between the requirements of democracy and the demands of foreign policy making. This article assesses the arguments made in defense of centralized decision making in U.S. foreign affairs and finds them generally at odds with the tenets of democratic political theory. The author argues that these contradictions suggest the need for significant reform in the institutional arrangement of the nation's foreign policy-making apparatus.

Abstract: Nearly a decade after he left office as the first incumbent President to be defeated in a re-election bid since Herbert Hoover in 1932, Jimmy Carter's public visibility and reputation have been reviving. President Ronald Reagan's Iranian quandaries may have started this rebound, leading to a retrospective public upgrading of Carter's performance. A poll taken in late 1986, shortly after the Iran-Contra affair broke, indicated that 44 percent of those surveyed thought Reagan was doing a poor job handling relations with Iran, compared to 26 percent who thought Carter did a poor job.' Since then, Carter has been active as an international election observer, conflict mediator, and convener of discussions on global issues, leading to a spate of laudatory press stories. A New York Times piece stated, \"Jimmy Carter the man is winning praise as a role model for ex-presidents from the Washington crowd that labeled him a feckless chief executive,\" while a Time magazine feature asserted that \"Carter has emerged as the best ex-president the U.S. has had since Herbert Hoover.\"2 On the other hand, for many college students today, Carter is viewed as a \"failed president,\" whose term was marked by personal vacillation, deteriorating living standards at home, and the decline of American power abroad.

Abstract: Following the 1968 Democratic National Convention, both major parties "opened up" their presidential nomination process, and primaries became the principal way of selecting delegates to state and national conventions. Critics argued that this new openness would encourage the infusion of ideologues into the selection process, the very kind of delegates who would place principle above pragmatism, write party platforms detrimental to building a majority coalition, and seek the nomination of "pure" candidates with no chance of electoral success.' If the supporters of any presidential candidate in recent years could be cast as this new type of party activist, they likely would be those Republicans committed to Pat Robertson. Robertson supporters were generally portrayed as (1) newly mobilized, (2) ideologically driven, and (3) more committed to the candidate than to the party. While not all newly mobilized party activists remain in party politics following an election, some do, despite the fact that their candidates may no longer be on the scene and their issue(s) may have lost salience.2 Because of continued activism among those mobilized during previous campaigns, newcomers never completely take over the presidential party. At the same time, with new arrivals, the party "never goes back to being what it was before a particular campaign either."3 Consequently, the Robertson campaign,

Abstract: Is there a moral basis for political obligation? Recent democratic theorists have raised powerful objections to the very idea of a nonvoluntary duty to obey the state. Yet, this article contends, a satisfactory account of our political bonds must include the idea of voluntarily acquired obligations, as well as the idea of a rationally grounded, nonvoluntary moral duty to comply with just institutions. These duties, the author argues, are neither as unpolitical nor as demanding as recent democrats suggest, and he concludes that many of the fears that democrats and liberals have about a rationally justified duty to obey will be relieved by a fuller understanding of democratic voluntarism.

Abstract: The study of public administration abounds in hierarchical theories of organization. In refreshing contrast, Vincent Ostrom's model of democratic administration stresses the enhancement of opportunities for individuals within public organizations. Focusing on Ostrom's theory, this article explores the ability of democratic administration to engender the social and political support required for public enterprise and to provide a philosophy that promotes an authentically democratic work life.

Abstract: Oversight is an important congressional responsibility.1 While legislators recognize the importance of oversight, they are sometimes frustrated by their inability to oversee the executive better. It is difficult for legislators to understand the impact of the laws they enact.2 Congressional oversight performance has simply not matched the importance of its responsibility.3 Despite exhortations by scholars and even substantial congressional efforts, there is little evidence that oversight performance has improved significantly. At least part of the reason for these meager results is that efforts to improve oversight have not been guided by an adequate understanding of the factors that motivate legislators to oversee the executive. There are three explanations for legislative behavior with respect to oversight. One is that legislators, while generally unwilling to oversee the bureaucracy, will do so when it benefits them politically.4 Another is that legislators want to oversee the executive, but are busy and cannot find the time.5 Indeed, Congress attempted to help busy legislators find time for oversight by supplying additional resources such as committee staff.6

Abstract: What are the psychological sources of civic virtue in the republican tradition? This article identifies three: the education of the passions, the manipulation of interests, and the compulsion to duty. The author explores each and concludes that an appreciation of their distinctions suggests possibilities for reviving republican virtue in the modern world.