Basic American Government

Rating:
Summary: The most essential modern book on American government
Review: Now out of print and available only as a series of audiotapes, « Basic American Government » was initially published as a massive 480-page volume, not counting the notes, glossary, index, and the 60 pages of firsthand documents such as the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist N°10 or the Constitution itself. Its author, Clarence Carson, is the author of more than 500 articles and about 15 fifteen books, including a six-volume history of the United States.

The book is divided into four sections : - Section 1 (35p) deals with the basic principles of the American system of government. It starts by reminding the reader that the United States, contrary to the platitudes that are mouthed by today's journalists and politicians, « is not a democracy. It is a Constitutional Federated Republic. » Carson then goes on to explain what these concepts of « constitution », « republic » and « federalism » mean exactly, thus presenting the « sum and substance » of American govenment. - Section 2 (150p) delves into the intellectual background of the American political system, from authorities such as Aristotle to the English heritage of the 17th and 18th century, including 12 pages on John Locke, Trenchard and Gordon, William Blackstone and Adam Smith alone. The American colonial experience, the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention are then summarized, but of course with much less detail than in Carson's « Basic History of the United States » or his « Rebirth of Liberty ». - Section 3 (130p) traces the evolution of the American system of government in the 19th century, from the establishment of the Federal Government after the ratification of the Constitution through the major decisions of the Supreme Court and the upheaval of the Civil War and Recontruction. - Section 4 (135p) deals with the 20th century and the advent of Leviathan (or big government), examining how socialism, by deliberately refusing to call itself by that name, entered the American mainstream ; and how Franklin D. Roosevelt « broke the constitutional dam » with his New Deal and the Court Packing Plan of 1937- a process culminating in a government that has become « out of control ».

First published in 1993, Clarence Carson's masterful volume « Basic American Government » ranks among his best, and is to my knowledge the most profound, principled and systematic treatment of the subject ever printed- far better than R.V. Denenberg's « Understanding American Politics », and incomparably superior to David Cushman Coyle's pitiful « The United States Political System and How it Works».

True to the founding principles of the Founding Fathers, enlightened by a genuine understanding of economic principles (Carson is well-read in both the classical economists and the Austrians, and is the author of a helpful treatise on « Basic Economics »), it opens with what I consider to be the most powerful statement ever printed on the current condition of the US government : « It would be considerable fraud to do a book on American government which talked as if the Constitution were still being substantially observed, that pretended that when Presidents took the oath of office they intended to observe the bounds set by the Constitution, that Congressmen recited their pledges with the same intent, and that Federal judges were still construing the Constitution as it was written. In sum, any book on American government worthy of the name ought to make clear how remote from the Constitution the government has become. »

Carson's own suggestions as to how to restore the integrity of the US political system are extremely simple. As he says, the text of the Constitution itself is still intact, so what is necessary is merely to make US government officials obey it. Did you know for instance that, in the Constitution, « there is no authority granted to levy taxes or to contract debts to provide for any foreign country » and that « the United States is specified alone as the beneficiary for all tax collections » ? (p445) More specifically, Carson suggests repealing the 17th Amendment (which undermined the federal system by reducing the power of the states to check the central government) and making it a treason for any US government official to betray the Constitution.

In other words, the way for Americans to bring the government back to its function of protecting their rights to « life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness » is simply to make their servants obey the charter which was initially adopted to limit their powers.

Rating:
Summary: The most essential modern book on American government
Review: Now out of print and available only as a series of audiotapes, « Basic American Government » was initially published as a massive 480-page volume, not counting the notes, glossary, index, and the 60 pages of firsthand documents such as the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist N°10 or the Constitution itself. Its author, Clarence Carson, is the author of more than 500 articles and about 15 fifteen books, including a six-volume history of the United States.

The book is divided into four sections : - Section 1 (35p) deals with the basic principles of the American system of government. It starts by reminding the reader that the United States, contrary to the platitudes that are mouthed by today's journalists and politicians, « is not a democracy. It is a Constitutional Federated Republic. » Carson then goes on to explain what these concepts of « constitution », « republic » and « federalism » mean exactly, thus presenting the « sum and substance » of American govenment. - Section 2 (150p) delves into the intellectual background of the American political system, from authorities such as Aristotle to the English heritage of the 17th and 18th century, including 12 pages on John Locke, Trenchard and Gordon, William Blackstone and Adam Smith alone. The American colonial experience, the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention are then summarized, but of course with much less detail than in Carson's « Basic History of the United States » or his « Rebirth of Liberty ». - Section 3 (130p) traces the evolution of the American system of government in the 19th century, from the establishment of the Federal Government after the ratification of the Constitution through the major decisions of the Supreme Court and the upheaval of the Civil War and Recontruction. - Section 4 (135p) deals with the 20th century and the advent of Leviathan (or big government), examining how socialism, by deliberately refusing to call itself by that name, entered the American mainstream ; and how Franklin D. Roosevelt « broke the constitutional dam » with his New Deal and the Court Packing Plan of 1937- a process culminating in a government that has become « out of control ».

First published in 1993, Clarence Carson's masterful volume « Basic American Government » ranks among his best, and is to my knowledge the most profound, principled and systematic treatment of the subject ever printed- far better than R.V. Denenberg's « Understanding American Politics », and incomparably superior to David Cushman Coyle's pitiful « The United States Political System and How it Works».

True to the founding principles of the Founding Fathers, enlightened by a genuine understanding of economic principles (Carson is well-read in both the classical economists and the Austrians, and is the author of a helpful treatise on « Basic Economics »), it opens with what I consider to be the most powerful statement ever printed on the current condition of the US government : « It would be considerable fraud to do a book on American government which talked as if the Constitution were still being substantially observed, that pretended that when Presidents took the oath of office they intended to observe the bounds set by the Constitution, that Congressmen recited their pledges with the same intent, and that Federal judges were still construing the Constitution as it was written. In sum, any book on American government worthy of the name ought to make clear how remote from the Constitution the government has become. »

Carson's own suggestions as to how to restore the integrity of the US political system are extremely simple. As he says, the text of the Constitution itself is still intact, so what is necessary is merely to make US government officials obey it. Did you know for instance that, in the Constitution, « there is no authority granted to levy taxes or to contract debts to provide for any foreign country » and that « the United States is specified alone as the beneficiary for all tax collections » ? (p445) More specifically, Carson suggests repealing the 17th Amendment (which undermined the federal system by reducing the power of the states to check the central government) and making it a treason for any US government official to betray the Constitution.

In other words, the way for Americans to bring the government back to its function of protecting their rights to « life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness » is simply to make their servants obey the charter which was initially adopted to limit their powers.