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Beyond Ascriptive Ideologies: In Defense of America's Liberal Tradition
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Beyond Ascriptive Ideologies:
In Defense of America’s Liberal Tradition*
Abstract
Rogers Smith’s work on American citizenship aims at dethroning the liberalinterpretation of American political thought. He attempts to accomplish this by exposingthe incoherence of the American liberal tradition by identifying a set of inegalitarian,ascriptive ideologies that he claims justify and perpetuate inequality. This paperquestions the robustness of Smith’s analysis and defends a liberal understanding ofAmerican citizenship. Analysis of the debates surrounding the Naturalization Acts of1790 and 1795 demonstrates that Americans articulated a coherent, liberal vision ofcitizenship. This vision, unlike Locke’s citizen, who is able to regulate their self-interest,is predicated on private vice.
Jordon B. Barkalow, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science
180 Summer Street
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, MA 02325
(508) 531-2231 (Office)
## email not listed ##
* Paper prepared for presentation at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Southwest PoliticalScience Association (New Orleans, LA).
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| | Authors: Barkalow, Jordan. |
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Beyond Ascriptive Ideologies:
In Defense of America’s Liberal Tradition*
Abstract
Rogers Smith’s work on American citizenship aims at dethroning the liberal
interpretation of American political thought. He attempts to accomplish this by exposing
the incoherence of the American liberal tradition by identifying a set of inegalitarian,
ascriptive ideologies that he claims justify and perpetuate inequality. This paper
questions the robustness of Smith’s analysis and defends a liberal understanding of
American citizenship. Analysis of the debates surrounding the Naturalization Acts of
1790 and 1795 demonstrates that Americans articulated a coherent, liberal vision of
citizenship. This vision, unlike Locke’s citizen, who is able to regulate their self-interest,
is predicated on private vice.
Jordon B. Barkalow, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science
180 Summer Street
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, MA 02325
(508) 531-2231 (Office)
## email not listed ##
* Paper prepared for presentation at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Southwest Political
Science Association (New Orleans, LA).
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