Minority Victory or On the Social Contract

Minority Victory: Gilded Age Politics and the Front Porch Campaign of 1888

Author: Charles W Calhoun

During the run-up to the 1888 presidential election, Americans flocked to party rallies, marched in endless parades, and otherwise participated zealously in the political process. Although they faced a choice between two uncharismatic candidates—Republican challenger Benjamin Harrison and Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland—voters took intense interest in the issues they espoused. And though Harrison became one of only four candidates to win the presidency while losing the popular vote, the lasting significance of the election was its foreshadowing of both the modern campaign and the modern presidency.

Charles W. Calhoun shows how this presidential contest not only exemplified Gilded Age politics but also marked a major shift from divisive sectional rhetoric to an emphasis on voters' economic concerns. Calhoun first explores Cleveland's rise to the presidency and explains why he turned to economic issues, especially tariff reduction, in framing his bid for reelection. He then provides a detailed analysis of the raucous Republican national convention and describes Harrison's effective front porch campaign, in which he proclaimed his views almost daily to visiting voters and reporters. Calhoun also explores the role of party organizations, business interests, labor, women, African Americans, and third parties in the campaign; discusses alleged fraud in the election; and analyzes the Democrats' suppression of black votes in the South.

The 1888 campaign marked an important phase in the evolution of American political culture and augured significant innovations in American politics and governance. The Republicans' performance, in particular, reflected the party's futurewinning strategies: emphasis on economic development, personal participation by the presidential candidate, a well-financed organization, and coordination with beneficiaries of the party's agenda.

Harrison set important precedents for campaigning and then, once in office, fashioned new leadership strategies and governing techniques—emphasizing legislative intervention, extensive travel, and a focus on foreign affairs—that would become the stock-in-trade of later presidents. His Republican successors built upon these transformations, making the GOP the majority party for a generation and putting the presidency at the center of American governance—where it has remained ever since.

This book is part of the American Presidential Elections series.

Interesting book: I Cant Get Over It 2d or AyurVeda

On the Social Contract (Dover Thrift Editions)

Author: Jean Jacques Rousseau

"Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains." Thus begins Rousseau's influential 1762 work, in which he argues that all government is fundamentally flawed and that modern society is based on a system of inequality. The philosopher proposes an alternative system for the development of self-governing, self-disciplined citizens.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	ix
Book I
I.	Subject of the First Book	1
II.	The First Societies	2
III.	The Right of the Strongest	3
IV.	Slavery	4
V.	That We Must Always Go Back to a First Convention	7
VI.	The Social Compact	8
VII.	The Sovereign	10
VIII.	The Civil State	12
IX.	Real Property	12
Book II
I.	That Sovereignty Is Inalienable	15
II.	That Sovereignty Is Indivisible	16
III.	Whether the General Will Is Fallible	17
IV.	The Limits of the Sovereign Power	18
V.	The Right of Life and Death	21
VI.	Law	23
VII.	The Legislator	25
VIII.	The People	28
IX.	The People (cont.)	30
X.	The People (cont.)	31
XI.	The Various Systems of Legislation	34
XII.	The Division of the Laws	35
Book III
I.	Government in General	37
II.	The Constituent Principle in the Various Forms of Government	41
III.	The Division of Governments	43
IV.	Democracy	44
V.	Aristocracy	46
VI.	Monarchy	47
VII.	Mixed Governments	52
VIII.	That All Forms of Government Do Not Suit All Countries	53
IX.	The Marks of a Good Government	56
X.	The Abuse of Government and Its Tendency to Degenerate	58
XI.	The Death of the Body Politic	60
XII.	How the Sovereign Authority Maintains Itself	61
XIII.	The Same (cont.)	62
XIV.	The Same (cont.)	63
XV.	Deputies or Representatives	64
XVI.	That the Institution of Government Is Not a Contract	66
XVII.	The Institution of Government	67
XVIII.	How to Check the Usurpations of Government	68
Book IV
I.	That the General Will Is Indestructible	71
II.	Voting	73
III.	Elections	75
IV.	The Roman Comitia	76
V.	The Tribunate	84
VI.	The Dictatorship	85
VII.	The Censorship	88
VIII.	Civil Religion	89
IX.	Conclusion	97