A Disquisition on Government

2016 Reprint of 1943 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. The "Disquisition on Government" is Calhoun's short, definitive and comprehensive statement on the minority rights in U.S. constitutional law. It systematically presents his arguments that a numerical majority in any government will typically impose a despotism over a minority unless some way is devised to secure the assent of all classes, sections, and interests and, similarly, that innate human depravity would debase government in a democracy. Written between 1843 and 1848, the work addresses such diverse issues as states' rights and nullification, slavery, and the growth of the federal judicial power. Articulating Calhoun's perspective on government as seen from the point of view of a permanent minority (the South), it proposes the doctrine of a concurrent majority. Calhoun's concept of concurrent majority captures the idea that because unchecked majority rule can lead to tyranny over minority interests, minority groups should possess veto power government actions that affect them. Although Calhoun primarily intended this doctrine as a justification for slavery, the broader idea of a concurrent majority as a protection for minority rights has since become a pillar of American political thought.