The Spirit of American Government / A Study Of The Constitution: Its Origin, Influence And / Relation To Democracy

The author argues that the United States constitutional system is fundamentally reactionary, embedding eighteenth-century checks that limit majority rule and hinder democratic development. He traces their origins in earlier English institutions and the Revolutionary-era settlement, examines difficulties in amendment, analyzes the federal judiciary's de facto veto power, and surveys how structural devices—indirect elections, separated powers, committee practices, and party machinery—have produced undemocratic consequences such as weakened legislative responsibility and obstacles to popular control. The book combines historical narrative and institutional analysis to explain how constitutional design shapes political behavior and limits majority governance.