THE AMERICAN DEMOCRAT, OR HINTS ON THE SOCIAL AND CIVIC RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Cooperstown [NY]: H. & E. Phinney, 1838. 12mo, 192pp. Original cloth and spine label [some soil and rubbing], rebacked with much of the original spine laid down. Scattered foxing, dampstaining to some corners. Good+.

Cooper pens essays on imperfections in American democracy, especially "a disposition in the majority to carry out the opinions of the system to extremes, and a disposition in the minority to abandon all to the current of the day, with the hope that this current will lead, in the end, to radical changes."
Cooper identifies, as "distinctive" to America, the principle that "all political power is strictly a trust, granted (truncated) by the constituent to the representative." The unique quality of American liberty is that power ultimately resides in the people. Cooper argues that the great danger to the American republic is the tyranny of legislative majorities.
FIRST EDITION. Howes C745. Sabin 16412. BAL 3880. Not in Eberstadt, Decker, Larned. (Inventory #: 38677)