Recreating the American Republic: Rules of Apportionment, Constitutional Change, and American Political Development, 1700-1870

Rules of apportionment are elements of social and political order. In social gatherings, families and governments they assume a variety of written and unwritten forms and in every order they determine not only how collective decisions are made but also how and why a particular constitutional order develops over time. Recreating the American Republic provides a far-reaching analysis of when, how and why these rules change and with what consequences. Recreating the American Republic reveals the import of these rules of apportionment by engaging the three most widely recognized and studied eras and events of American political history: the Colonial era and the American Revolution; the early national years and the 1787 Constitutional Convention; and the nineteenth century and the American Civil War. Recreating the American Republic systematically compares each seemingly familiar era and event - revealing new insights and a new metanarrative of American political development between 1700 and 1870.

"Kromkowski's ambitious book argues that apportionment is a revealing and underappreciated lens on constitutional creation and change. By means of historical-institutional analysis with a large twist of formal theory, Kromkowski boldly reexamines U.S. representative theory and arrangements from the pre-Revolutionary period through the Civil War amendments. In addition, Kromkowski invites methodological attention through his self-conscious discussions of the possibilites and challenges of combining different research approaches and methods. In addition to the book's substantive merits, these interesting digressions on the problems of 'doing' social science would make this text a lively addition to a scope and methods-type graduate course in history and political science." Perspectives on Politics

"Kromkowski has tapped much scholarly literature from several disciplines, including some of the best historical scholarship. This book is informed by useful tables, graphs, charts, theorems, and other aids. His macrolevel background summaries are instructive." Journal of American History

"Kromkowski's achievement is to raise the issue of the nature and causes of change in the rules of apportionment within a consensual constitutional system. He concludes that such change is caused by 'changes in political expectations concerning decision-making capacities and governmental authority." American Historical Review

"...readers interested in the development of the constitutional order of the American republic should find this an informative and interesting book." The Journal of Economic History

"The central problem of democratic politics is how the public can control its political leadership. Kromkowski attacks this problem by looking at apportionment, its constitutional basis, and change in that basis in three critical periods, the American Revolution, the switch from the confederal to federal Constitution, and the revision of that Constitution after the Civil War. He attacks this problem with a rich amalgam of methods from historical through game theoretic. The result is a rich and complex reading that changes one's understanding of seemingly well-known events." John Aldrich, Duke University

"In this book Charles Kromkowski defines and applies an innovative framework for explaining institutional change that draws on the insights of both historical institutionalism and rational choice. . . . The overall result is an analysis of change in the basic rules for apportioning authority and power at three critical points in American political development that synthesizes the impacts of structure and agency without subordinating one to the other and deepens understanding of change by bringing both historical and political analysis to bear. Whatever one's perspectives and commitments in the current debate over institutional change, Kromkowski has written an informative, perceptive, and challenging book that all sides can profit from reading." Joseph Cooper, Johns Hopkins University

"Recreating the American Republic provides a far-reaching analysis of when, how and why these rules [of apportionment] change and with what consequences." INSight

"Skillfully combining detailed historical narrative and rigorous social science theory, the author shows how American democracy was born of, and developed from, a combination of brilliant statecraft and enlightened self-interest." Virginia Quarterly Review

"[Kromkowski's] book provides enormous insight into recent contributions by both historians and political scientists to understanding institutional change...a worthwhile addition to our understanding of institutional change in American politics." Journal of Southern History

"This sophisticated study demonstrates how methods of history and political science can be intertwined cogently, indeed brilliantly. Recommended." Choice