ARIANNA NEVAREZ
Staff Writer
At 10:45 a.m. Friday in the Amphitheater, Robert P. George closed out Week Six, “America at 250: In Partnership with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,” with a philosophical perspective on the founding documents and the influence of “human nature” on the United States’ governmental structure in conversation with Jeffrey Rosen.
George is the McCormick professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. Rosen is a historian and law professor at The George Washington University Law School.
At the beginning of their conversation, Rosen reflected on the conversation he had with Ken Burns earlier in the week about the Declaration of Independence and the idea of “the pursuit of happiness.” George provided a more philosophical background on the term, saying in the 18th century, the interpretation is rooted in “a state of being” and “a state of character” that includes virtue above all.
“If we’re pursuing happiness in the sense of fulfillment, flourishing, felicity, virtue, then we will be exercising our liberty not in pursuit of whatever we want … but rather in the pursuit of what is worth having, worth doing, in pursuit of the good,” George said.
Due to a lack of education about constitutional principles, George said younger generations believe happiness is rooted simply in the fulfillment of desires and gratification, though this is not what “pursuit of happiness” actually means; rather, constitutional pursuit of happiness comes with obligations, self-discipline, humility and civic-mindedness.
“When [the founding fathers] spoke of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, those were concepts to them that were deeply connected to responsibility,” George said. “They weren’t the aversion of responsibility. They were about exercising one’s liberty responsibly in the pursuit of virtue, the pursuit of flourishing for oneself, one’s family, for one’s country.”
To understand the principles in the founding documents of self-government, George said he tried to analyze the minds of the nation’s founders. They had just succeeded in overthrowing the strongest military power of the time, and they wanted to prevent “a homegrown tyranny,” according to George. He said they came to the conclusion of needing a republic, but it was not an easy decision because other countries had tried republican governments and failed.
When trying to create the best version of a republic they could, George said the founders had to look at what made other republics collapse or even turn into forms of tyranny. The answer was human nature, he said.
According to George, James Madison understood these intricacies.
“Madison did have a very realistic understanding between faults and foibles and fallenness and fallibility, and he knew that we could go off the rails,” George said. “And when we go off the rails, it’s usually when we leave reason behind and instead allow ourselves to be motivated by these wayward passions, wayward desires — selfishness, greed, hatred, animosity, rapacity. … This causes republics to degenerate. This causes democracies to become the rule of the law. That’s why our founders did not use or like the term democracy.”
Now, George said, democracy is the blueprint, and even the most tyrannical countries in the world proclaim themselves to be democracies. He said for a republic to survive, Madison knew that it would need “people who can be fit for self-governing” and “structural constraints.”
Though the human mind is complex, George said people can be built to be virtuous by formation and education, something that the government cannot provide.
“Virtues you acquire because of mom, pastor and teacher and coach, the people close to you and the institutions they serve — the institutions of civil society, the family, the church, the civic association, the entities, the little platoons … that play the primary role that government can never play well,” George said. “Not only providing fundamental health education and welfare, but of transmitting to each new generation the habits of mind and heart. The qualities of soul reward the virtues that enable human beings to lead decent lives and to become responsible republican citizens.”
Regarding checks and balances, George said the two most important ways to check power are through sovereignty and not adopting a parliamentary system. Furthermore, he said power is not entirely centered in the federal government; it can be checked by the states and vice versa. George also said in order for these checks to work, the three branches of government should be “distinct and separate” from one another.
The human condition can make distinguishing between these powers difficult.
“But the actual separation of powers doctrine will only work if the people themselves police those borders. If the people themselves let one branch intrude on another branch, the more powerful branch will prevail,” George said. “… Government offices are occupied by human beings. … Those human beings will grab power that they’re not entitled to, unless the people at the next election bring swift and certain political retaliation.”
While George said it’s the responsibility of the people in representative positions to hold one another accountable, he said it is the citizens’ job to call out wrongdoings by members of their party when they overstep their roles.
“The country benefits by having strong arguments on the competing sides, but when it comes to these basic constitutional questions, federalism, separation of power, civil rights protections and the rule of law, all Americans need to be united, and we need to be willing to call out those on our own side,” George said.
George went on to address the competing philosophies of Hamilton and Jefferson and how they have defined subsequent political and constitutional battles. He said Hamilton envisioned a “commercial republic” that would impart its own virtues by having people give back in the form of philanthropy. On the other hand, Jefferson imagined an “agrarian republic,” and to have virtue, the country must not “give our people over to money,” according to George.
“Throughout American history, both sides have invoked Hamilton and Jefferson opportunistically to justify whatever result they want,” George said.
In talking about how these philosophies and powers interact today, George cited the words of the Constitution: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” He said branches’ power has shifted in recent years, and “legislative authority has dissipated on the one side over to the executive,” something the Constitution is adamantly against.
Though these issues have arisen, George said it is important to recognize the success and endurance of the U.S. It’s easy to criticize the Constitution because it can slow down processes and make changes difficult, George said, but the document’s rules allow the country to make more deliberate decisions.
“I like a system where we have to think, where we have to debate, where we have to deliberate, where we have to, if not achieve consensus, at least achieve some level of bipartisanship as we move along,” George said. “I know we’re all worried about the polarization, … It is true that polarization poses a real threat to republican democracy, but despite all that, we’re still here. Our republic has to quote those words from Lincoln: ‘long endure.’ And I don’t see any reason, in principle, why we can’t go on another 250 and another 250 after that. But only if you’re engaged, well-constructed citizens.”
