Compass Journal

An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Compass Journal

It Is a Constitution We Are Expounding: John Marshall, Spencer Roane, and the Fundamental Conflicts Surrounding McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Using a blend of primary and secondary sources, this research paper examines the lesser-known newspaper debate between Chief Justice John Marshall and Judge Spencer Roane of the Virginia Court of Appeals. The purpose of this research is to answer one question: What were the fundamental issues that divided early Americans as demonstrated by the landmark case of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)? To contribute to the ongoing discussion of McCulloch and its significance, my paper attempts to understand the issues surrounding McCulloch within its broader, historical context. Instead of confining its importance to the Second Bank of the United States, I identify McCulloch as a judicial case turned political—a divisive instance of constitutional conflict between Hamiltonian nationalism and Madisonian republicanism.

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The Influence of Race in Americans’ Trust of Government

The percentage of Americans who trust the government in Washington always or most of the time has been increasingly declining since the John F. Kennedy presidency in the early 1960s The reasons for this sharp downward bend are unclear. Americans do worry about political disagreement, which they see as an indication of an anomaly in the system. However, given the choice, they would rather concern themselves about nonpolitical issues. That factor has not stopped them from failing to trust their government. The expectations placed by Americans on their administration are excessively high. Thus, disappointment is inevitable. The declining trust exhibited by all Americans, regardless of their political views, party affiliations, age, gender, and race are equally evident across the board. Economic reasons, social and cultural elements, the polarization of American parties are all solid reasons to explore. However, in this paper the roots of American’s distrust for the government will be analyzed according to race.

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Jefferson and Tocqueville on Christian Nationalism

The United States’ principle of the separation of church and state, first articulated in Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802), has been questioned by proponents of Christian nationalism who seek to make the United States an established Christian state. This paper argues that Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy, which is inimical to the idea of Christian nationalism, was based on sound reasoning, and its benefits to American society were later recognized by French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville. Furthermore, this paper uses Jefferson’s philosophy and Tocqueville’s analysis to elucidate the contemporary relationship between church and state in the United States, and to argue that Christian nationalism is unfeasible; religion should remain a private matter where it provides the most benefit to American citizens.

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Critique of Hayek’s Liberalism and the Rule of Law

In this paper, I raise a few doubts about the adequacy of Hayek’s liberal theory and the rule of law in the twenty-first century. I argue that the theory 1) fails to be morally neutral by not giving proper attention to the harm experienced by the minorities, 2) does not acknowledge a satisfactory account for the exploitation of the working class, and 3) operates with a parochial definition of freedom.

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Liberating the Truth in Augustine’s Confessions and Douglass’ Narrative

In this paper, I explore how Frederick Douglass’ and St. Augustine’s understanding of the corruption of God’s word produced their respective achievement of freedom. In examining Augustine’s Confessions and Douglass’ Narrative, we come to understand the moral imperative of public service both thinkers promoted; the idea that individuals have a distinct social obligation to share their knowledge in a promotion of the greater good.

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Dividing Democracy: Three Arguments for States’ Rights

States’ rights is often perceived as a single and unchanging doctrine, but American political thought reveals three version of states’ rights with distinct purposes. This essay examines these competing thoughts and ultimately argues that Alexis de Tocqueville’s localism, with its emphasis on the substantive social benefits of local government over institutional or constitutional forms, offers a version of states’ rights best suited to the modern American regime.

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Summoning Laplace’s Demon: The Erosion of Meaningful Voter Choice in an Era of Algorithms?

Precise individual microtargeting threatens to remake the political landscape as thoroughly as it has remade marketing. This paper explores the observed uses to date of political microtargeting as well as the many difficulties, some inherent to politics, of measuring its effects. Considering the philosophical difficulties of predictively removing human choice, it then assesses the observed risks of and some potential remedies to the current trajectory and finds that free electoral choice is not doomed to be written out of the system.

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Justice, Ideology, and Struggle

Marx’s approach to questions of justice and morality are captured by this metaphilosophical position, whereby Marx rejects an understanding of philosophical inquiry as the pursuit of foundations and universality. Philosophical justifications are, in the last instance, products of a particular form of society and production. Rather than abandoning the basic idea of human moral equality, the radical historicist approach allows the philosopher to make the Marxist progression from merely understanding the world toward changing it and moving it closer toward a moral horizon.

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