Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
The Federalist, federalist papers, Constitution, split personality, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Political Science
Abstract
Considered by many to be the seminal work in American political theory, The Federalist has long stood as one of the most important commentaries on the American Constitution and constitutional system. Despite the work’s near canonical status, however, a number of authors have questioned its value as an instrument for understanding and interpreting the Constitution. One of the most important challenges to The Federalist’s interpretive value comes from Douglass Adair’s and Alpheus Thomas Mason’s split personality thesis, which claims that Hamilton’s and Madison’s respective papers espouse fundamentally different and even contradictory views. If true, the split personality thesis poses significant challenges for The Federalist’s usefulness in understanding the Constitution, for an internally contradictory and incoherent work can do only little to clarify answers to key constitutional questions.
Recommended Citation
Bates, Chris and Gilchrist, Dr. Brent
(2013)
"Using The Federalist to Better Understand the Constitution: Does Publius’s “Split Personality” Pose a Problem?,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 406.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/406