The fact is democracy is something that is always unfolding, it is something that is always contested, it is something the ideas about which are always in play.
Click play to listen. Recorded on November 8, 2008.
Though hard to imagine today, at one time the mere idea of a viable nation founded on democratic principles was an unlikely—indeed, radical—proposition. For all its ensuing success, the American democratic experiment has proven to be an ambitious, complex, and ever-evolving one. Sean Wilentz, distinguished professor of history at Princeton University and a contributing editor to The New Republic, discusses the history of the American democratic enterprise and assess its current vitality.
Using the election of President Barack Obama as a starting point, Wilentz delves into the beginnings of our nation and the misconceptions surrounding the birth of a democratic America. Here’s a hint: democracy was far from the minds of our founding fathers. Wilentz tells of the spread of democracy after the American Revolution, thus creating the American political system that we know today. This lecture was generously sponsored by the McCormick Foundation.
Image: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html © Brig. Gen'l S.B. Holabird, Qr. Master Gen'l, U.S.A.
