The Political Theory of a Compound Republic examines the foundation of American constitutional design expressed in theFederalist. Through meticulous textual analysis, the logical principles of federalism-the extended and compound republic envisioned by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton-are revealed as thirteen propositions broadly applicable to any effort to design the institutions of a self-governing polity. The final chapters, expanded and revised by Vincent Ostrom and Barbara Allen, turn to the American experiment in constitutional choice at the threshold of the twenty-first century. In this revised edition, Ostrom and Allen consider the continuing story of federal institutional development by focusing on two current concerns: the "imperial presidency" and the ideal of universal human rights.
This third, revised and expanded edition of The Political Theory of a Compound Republic continues to be of interest to scholars of federalism, institutional analysis and development, political economy and public choice, and students of the American founding. It is also useful in undergraduate and graduate courses on American government and political thought.

By Vincent Ostrom and Barbara Allen

Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Preface Chapter 3 Two Different Approaches to the Design of Public Order Chapter 4 Chapter 1. Introduction: Seeking to Understand Principles of Governance Part 5 Part I. A Political Theory of a Compound Republic Chapter 6 Chapter 2. Point of Departure, Basic Assumptions, and First Principles Chapter 7 Chapter 3. Constitutional Choice Chapter 8 Chapter 4. Some Rudiments of Political Design Chapter 9 Chapter 5. A Republican Remedy for the Republican Disease Chapter 10 Chapter 6. Federal Structures and Their Implications Chapter 11 Chapter 7. The Distribution of Authority in the Organization of the National Government Part 12 Part II. More Than Two Centuries Later: Reflections on the American Experiments in Constitutional Choice Chapter 13 Chapter 8. Constitutional Choice and Constitutional Development Chapter 14 Chapter 9. The Twentieth-Century Break withThe Federalist Tradition Chapter 15 Chapter 10. The Constitutional Level of Analysis: A Challenge