Skip to main content
University of Michigan Press
Fulcrum logo

You can access this title through a library that has purchased it. More information about purchasing is available at our website.

Share the story of what Open Access means to you

a graphic of a lock that is open, the universal logo for open access

University of Michigan needs your feedback to better understand how readers are using openly available ebooks. You can help by taking a short, privacy-friendly survey.

  1. Home
  2. Founding Factions: How Majorities Shifted and Aligned to Shape the U.S. Constitution

Founding Factions: How Majorities Shifted and Aligned to Shape the U.S. Constitution

Jeremy C. Pope and Shawn Treier 2020
Restricted You do not have access to this book. How to get access.
The fundamental importance of the 1787 Constitutional Convention continues to affect contemporary politics. The Constitution defines the structure and limits of the American system of government, and it organizes contemporary debates about policy and legal issues—debates that explicitly invoke the intentions and actions of those delegates to the Convention. Virtually all scholarship emphasizes the importance of compromise between key actors or factions at the Convention. In truth, the deep structure of voting at the Convention remains somewhat murky because the traditional stories are incomplete. There were three key factions at the Convention, not two. The alliance of the core reformers with the slave interests helped change representation and make a stronger national government. When it came time to create a strong executive, a group of small state delegates provided the crucial votes. Traditional accounts gloss over the complicated coalition politics that produced these important compromises, while this book shows the specific voting alignments. It is true that the delegates came with common purposes, but they were divided by both interests and ideas into three crosscutting factions. There was no persistent dominant coalition of reformers or nationalists; rather, there was a series of minority factions allying with one another on the major issues to fashion the compromise. Founding Factions helps us understand the nature of shifting majorities and how they created the American government.
Read Book Buy Book
ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-472-12732-0 (ebook)
  • 978-0-472-13222-5 (hardcover)
Subject
  • Political Science:American Politics
  • Political Science:Governance
  • Political Science:Political History
Citable Link
  • Table of Contents

  • Resources

  • Stats

  • Cover
  • Half Title
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Chapter 1 Understanding a Secretive Convention
    • 1.1 A New Map of the Convention
    • 1.2 The Plan of this Book
  • Chapter 2 The Dimensions of Conflict
    • 2.1 Madison’s Preparations and Beard’s Analysis
    • 2.2 Existing Hypothetical Dimensions
    • 2.3 Our Dimensions
  • Chapter 3 Delegations and Delegates
    • 3.1 The Voting Rules
    • 3.2 The Estimates
    • 3.3 Results
      • 3.3.1 The State Delegations
      • 3.3.2 The Individual Delegates
        • The Small State Delegates
        • Deep South Delegates
        • The Core Reform States
    • 3.4 The Coalitions
  • Chapter 4 Representation: The Primary Cleavage
    • 4.1 Equal State Representation?
    • 4.2 Rejection of the New Jersey Plan
    • 4.3 The Great Compromise
    • 4.4 Final Details on Representation
    • 4.5 The Shape of the Compromise
  • Chapter 5 A National Government
    • 5.1 Ending State Sovereignty
    • 5.2 Settling on National Powers
    • 5.3 Ratification
  • Chapter 6 An Independent Executive?
    • 6.1 Creating an Executive
    • 6.2 Power Centers
    • 6.3 Balancing the Powers
    • 6.4 The Final Position
  • Chapter 7 Factional Design
    • 7.1 The Rights of States
    • 7.2 Representing People
    • 7.3 James Madison’s Efforts
    • 7.4 Big Government in Two Centers
    • 7.5 Deep Structure and Originalism
    • 7.6 Original Design
  • Chapter 8 Supporting Appendix
    • 8.1 Estimation Details
    • 8.2 Ideal Point Models
    • 8.3 Incorporating the Agenda
    • 8.4 Bayesian Estimation
    • 8.5 The Data
    • 8.6 Combining States and Delegates
  • Notes
  • References
  • Index

Search and Filter Resources

Filter search results by

Section

  • Chapter 36
  • Chapter 44
  • Chapter 53
  • Chapter 64
  • Chapter 71
  • Chapter 8 (Appendix)2
Filter search results by

Keyword

  • Inferred votes and positions at the convention2
  • Clusters of individual delegates1
  • Clusters of state delegations1
  • Delegate and delegation position estimates--executive independence1
  • Delegate and delegation position estimates--federalism1
  • more Keyword »
Filter search results by

Creator

  • Pope, Jeremy20
  • Treier, Shawn20
Filter search results by

Format

  • chart20

Search Constraints

1 - 20 of 20
  • First Appearance
  • Section (Earliest First)
  • Section (Last First)
  • Format (A-Z)
  • Format (Z-A)
  • Year (Oldest First)
  • Year (Newest First)
Number of results to display per page
  • 10 per page
  • 20 per page
  • 50 per page
  • 100 per page
View results as:
List Gallery

Search Results

Bar graph displaying amounts of votes consisting of “Nay,” “Divided,” and “Yea” responses from individual delegates (listed by name and state along the y-axis).

Figure 3.1

From Chapter 3

Fig. 3.1.

Graph indicating positions of delegates (listed by name and state along the y-axis) on proportional representation.

Figure 3.2

From Chapter 3

Fig. 3.2.

Graph indicating positions of delegates (listed by name and state along the y-axis) on federalism.

Figure 3.3

From Chapter 3

Fig. 3.3.

Graph indicating positions of delegates (listed by name and state along the y-axis) on executive independence.

Figure 3.4

From Chapter 3

Fig. 3.4.

Chart displaying eleven states in three clusters.

Figure 3.5

From Chapter 3

Fig. 3.5. Clusters of State Delegations

Chart displaying the delegates of states in six clusters.

Figure 3.6

From Chapter 3

Fig. 3.6. Clusters of Individual Delegates

Chart displaying selected votes on nine different plans and proposals.

Figure 4.1

From Chapter 4

Fig. 4.1. Selected Key Votes in the Early Portion of the Convention’s Committee of the Whole (May 25–June 20)

A four-quadrant graph displaying names of delegates based on their alignments with federalism (x-axis) and executive independence (y-axis). A small shaded area floats at the image’s far right, just above the x-axis.

Figure 4.2

From Chapter 4

Fig. 4.2.

Chart displaying selected votes on nine different plans and proposals.

Figure 4.3

From Chapter 4

Fig. 4.3. Selected Key Votes on Representation in the Middle Portion of the Convention (June 21–July 28)

Chart displaying selected votes on four different plans and proposals.

Figure 4.4

From Chapter 4

Fig. 4.4. Selected Key Votes on Representation in the Final Portion of the Convention (August 6–September 17)

Chart displaying selected votes on twelve different plans and proposals.

Figure 5.1

From Chapter 5

Fig. 5.1. Selected key votes on Federalism in the early period of Committee of the Whole (May 25–July 28), encompassing both the Committee of the Whole period and the mid-Convention period in July

Chart displaying selected votes on eight different plans and proposals.

Figure 5.2

From Chapter 5

Fig. 5.2. Selected key votes on Federalism in the final portion of the Convention (August 6–September 17)

Chart displaying votes on four different proposals.

Figure 5.3

From Chapter 5

Fig. 5.3. Selected key votes on ratification and federalism in the final portion of the Convention (August 6–September 17)

Chart displaying selected votes on five different plans and proposals.

Figure 6.1

From Chapter 6

Fig. 6.1. Selected Key Votes on an Independent Executive in the Committee of the Whole Portion of the Convention (May 25–June 20)

Chart displaying selected votes on five different plans and proposals.

Figure 6.2

From Chapter 6

Fig. 6.2. Selected Key Votes on an Independent Executive in the Middle Portion of the Convention (June 21–July 28)

Chart displaying selected votes on thirteen different proposals.

Figure 6.3

From Chapter 6

Fig. 6.3. Selected Key Votes on an Independent Executive in the Final Portion of the Convention (August 6–September 17)

Three-dimensional box plot of final positions of six different plans and proposals based on their alignments to federalism, representation, and executive independence.

Figure 6.4

From Chapter 6

Fig. 6.4. The Final Positions

Three charts displaying the ideological position of each state’s alignment with Proportional Representation, Executive Independence, and Federalism (respectively) based on the final position of the Constitution.

Figure 7.1

From Chapter 7

Fig. 7.1.

Separated into two images, this chart displays the votes from each delegate (listed by name and state along the y-axis) during each individual month from May to September (listed along the x-axis) at the Constitutional Convention based on “Nay,” “Divided,” and “Yea” responses.

Appendix Figure 1, Part 1

From Chapter 8 (Appendix)

Fig. A1. Delegation and Delegate Inferred Positions for all Votes at the Convention, Grouped by State

Separated into two images, this chart displays the votes from each delegate (listed by name and state along the y-axis) during each individual month from May to September (listed along the x-axis) at the Constitutional Convention based on “Nay,” “Divided,” and “Yea” responses.

Appendix Figure 1, Part 2

From Chapter 8 (Appendix)

Fig. A1. Delegation and Delegate Inferred Positions for all Votes at the Convention, Grouped by State

121 views since June 02, 2020
University of Michigan Press logo

University of Michigan Press

Powered by Fulcrum logo

  • About
  • Blog
  • Feedback
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Accessibility
  • Preservation
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Service
  • Log In
© University of Michigan Press 2020
x This site requires cookies to function correctly.