"What's New in the Federalist Papers?"

Abstract

The Federalist Papers is regarded by both American political theorists and scientists as the ur-text of the polity, an assessment which is derived in large part from the belief in the causal relationship between the essays and the founding act itself. It is this fascination with what is old and new in the Federalist Papers that is the key to interpreting this exceptional text for it is on precisely these terms that Publius himself framed his arguments as did those who opposed the second founding. The thesis of this essay is that these defenses and critiques of things both old and new in the Federalist Papers are explored through a set of "stories" or narratives about America. Thus Publius' success in winning the debate over oldness/newness can be seen in his excellence as a storyteller. His stories are a mixture of historical foundings both ancient and modem, scripts of the convention and the ratification and futuristic scenarios. When we read the Federalist Papers, we participate in his acts of story telling, appreciating and replicating the pairings of old and new he created, as we attempt to add chapters to his narratives. Since as Americans we must all begin with Publius' stories, if only because of his authority as founder, he forces us to (re)conceive America as an exceptional ("new") narrative of old and new.