The Antifederalists Were (Mostly) Right: An Analysis of Modern American Public Opinion on the Concerns of the Antifederalists

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dc.contributor.advisorMargolis, Michele
dc.contributor.authorNash, Jamie B
dc.date2023-05-18T02:43:35.000
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-22T13:08:49Z
dc.date.available2023-05-22T13:08:49Z
dc.date.issued2022-04-20
dc.date.submitted2022-04-20T12:25:40-07:00
dc.description.abstractThis thesis analyzes the connection between Antifederalist objections to Constitutional ratification and modern-day public opinion on related topics to see the long-term validity of the Antifederalist claims. Using Pew Research Center data, this study focuses on topics of rural consciousness, nationalism, presidential identity, governmental distance from constituency, and the Electoral College as proxies through which to consider Antifederalist claims. The use of proxies is meant to allow the contextualization of Antifederalist attitudes within a context that will produce meaningful public opinion data. This paper also seeks to find explanatory variables for the trends discovered in the data. The results show that the core ideas behind Antifederalist concerns are still largely present within the American public, specifically related to nationalism, congress being too distant from the constituency, and the Constitution being too difficult to amend. The growth of presidential power making presidential identity unimportant, though, is not present and thus contradict part of Antifederalist claims. This study adds to the field of American politics by taking a novel approach in considering the long-lasting impact of Antifederalism. This group is frequently overlooked and discounted, but this study shows that, perhaps, they deserve to be given more credit for their anxieties than they often are.
dc.description.departmentPolitical Science
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/8671
dc.legacy.articleid1316
dc.legacy.fulltexturlhttps://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1316&context=curej&unstamped=1
dc.legacy.nativeurlhttps://repository.upenn.edu/context/curej/article/1316/type/native/viewcontent
dc.source.issue262
dc.source.journalCUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal
dc.source.statuspublished
dc.subject.otherAntifederalism
dc.subject.otherPublic Opinion
dc.subject.otherRural Consciousness
dc.subject.otherNationalism
dc.subject.otherPresidential Power
dc.subject.otherCongress
dc.subject.otherElectoral College
dc.subject.otherPolitical Science
dc.subject.otherMichele Margolis
dc.subject.otherMargolis
dc.subject.otherMichele
dc.subject.otherAmerican Politics
dc.subject.otherPolitical Science
dc.titleThe Antifederalists Were (Mostly) Right: An Analysis of Modern American Public Opinion on the Concerns of the Antifederalists
dc.typeArticle
digcom.contributor.authorisAuthorOfPublication|email:jnash11069@gmail.com|institution:University of Pennsylvania|Nash, Jamie B
digcom.identifiercurej/262
digcom.identifier.contextkey28744161
digcom.identifier.submissionpathcurej/262
digcom.typearticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication86a2ce8a-2e07-42f8-9768-ff77f1e21934
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery86a2ce8a-2e07-42f8-9768-ff77f1e21934
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciences
upenn.schoolDepartmentCenterCUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal
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