Comparing Barbour And Wright's Keeping The Republic

Throughout Chapter 1 of Keeping the Republic, Barbour and Wright discuss the ideologies of three influential members of Politics: James Madison, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes. Beginning with Madison, he believed strongly in having a republic. As the text describes it, a republic differs from a traditional sense of a democracy, as representation is required. (p.16-17). Madison believed that in a “True Democracy”, everyone would only be acting with their own self-interest in mind. People would essentially vote for or against certain issues in order to benefit or prevent being hindered by them. (p.17). As mentioned in a class discussion, Madison was a Federalist, so he believed in a stronger national government, which may have also been due to his distrust of “the people”. Madison’s ideologies also appear to have been influenced by his era. Madison worked through what was known as the American Enlightenment. This was a period where new political advances were being made and new ideals were created. As a newly founded country, there was essentially a blank slate to work with. This allowed Madison to feel free to develop his ideas …show more content…
His similarities to Locke have much to do with the social contract theory, which he was also believed in. Despite this, the two theories differ fundamentally on why government has its place in society and how influential government can be. (p.15). Hobbes put a great emphasis on government, probably in part due to the era in which he lived. Hobbes did not quite live long enough to see the Enlightenment and the new ideals that shortly followed. During this time period, the church was a major authority and, as such, life was sometimes seen as being impossible without some force controlling it, whether or not it was as large and powerful as the church