The Best Regime and the American Founding
Episode description
We discuss Aristotle’s four ways of thinking about the best regime and Harry Jaffa’s case for (the principles of) the American founding as the best practical regime.
Matt Parks and David Corbin explore the ideas behind today's headlines.
Opening and closing music from the beginning and end of “2020 Vision (Worse than Blind)” by Fred Lancia. Used with permission.
Opening (0:53) - We discuss kid birthday celebrations, the New England Patriots’ recent success, and the Publius Posse’s big fantasy football win over the Canyon Lake Texans.
Required Reading (4:24) - We discuss four ways of thinking about the best regime, the different types of each regime, and Aristotle’s rank ordering of regimes and then consider Harry Jaffa’s argument for the (principles of the) American Founding as the best regime. Links: Aristotle, The Politics; Harry Jaffa, “The American Founding as the Best Regime”.
Tocqueville’s Crystal Ball (28:22) - We look back at our preseason NFL predictions and talk about our biggest hits and misses.
Email: DemocracyinAmericaToday@gmail.com
Matt Parks is the Interim Provost and an Associate Professor of Politics at The King’s College in New York City. David Corbin is Head of School at the Geneva School of Boerne, Texas. All views expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker.