John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy

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Why American founding father John Adams feared the political power of the rich-and how his ideas illuminate today's debates about inequality and its consequences Long before the "one percent" became a protest slogan, American founding father John Adams feared the power of a class he called simply "the few"-the wellborn, the beautiful, and especi

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John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy is a most timely, valuable, and enlightening book. It shows conclusively that Adams was one of the sharpest critics of oligarchy among the American founders and, indeed, in the history of political thought. The book will generate much-needed discussion in political thought, American political studies, and contemporary democratic theory.
John McCormick, University of Chicago

Remarkably well-written and astonishingly lucid, John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy makes an absolutely central point about Adamss thought, persuasively reestablishing him as a genuine democrat in his ultimate sympathies.
Sanford Levinson, University of Texas Law School

A needed examination of Adamss political thought on wealth-based aristocracy.
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Author Bio

Luke Mayville is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for American Studies at Columbia University. He is a contributor to Commonweal.