Kevin Butterfield, The Making of Tocqueville’s America: Law and Association in the Early United States (Chicago University of Chicago Press, 2015). Pp. viii + 336. $40.00 (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-226-29708-8. In The Making of Tocqueville’s America , Kevin Butterfield draws our attention to the fact that the founding generation feared unchecked private governance just as much as it feared unchecked federal power. Rather than viewing civic associations simply as bastions of freedom protecting individuals from a potentially tyrannical state, early Americans worried about the power associations wielded over members and feared the ways they might trample the liberty interests of their members, both socially—such as by blackballing them from respectable society—and more importantly, politically, such as by controlling their votes. The book’s chapters are peppered with stories of civic associations endeavoring to sully the reputations of members who have fallen out of grace. Readers are encouraged to sympathize with the plight of a nineteen-year-old member of the Uranian Society, John Peter Van Ness—future mayor of Washington, DC—who was expelled from his political debate …

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凯文巴特菲尔德，托克维尔美国的形成：美国早期的法律和协会

凯文·巴特菲尔德，托克维尔美国的形成：美国早期的法律和协会（芝加哥大学出版社，2015 年）。pp。viii + 336. 40.00 美元（精装）。ISBN 978-0-226-29708-8。在《托克维尔美国的形成》中，凯文·巴特菲尔德 (Kevin Butterfield) 提请我们注意这样一个事实，即创始一代害怕不受约束的私人治理就像害怕不受约束的联邦权力一样。早期的美国人并没有将公民协会简单地视为保护个人免受潜在专制国家侵害的自由堡垒，而是担心权力协会对成员行使权力，并担心他们可能会在社会上践踏成员的自由利益，例如通过黑名单来自受人尊敬的社会——更重要的是，在政治上，例如通过控制他们的选票。这本书的章节充斥着公民协会的故事，这些故事试图玷污失宠成员的声誉。鼓励读者同情天王星协会 19 岁成员约翰·彼得·范·内斯（John Peter Van Ness）——华盛顿特区未来的市长——的困境，他被从政治辩论中开除……