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What principles animate American democracy? How have those principles been debated? To what extent have the institutions and practices of American government aimed to embody those principles? And how well have they succeeded in that aim? In this course, we consider these questions from two distinct angles. First, by reading historical texts, we will learn how the people that participated in or observed the colonization of North America, the American Revolution, the framing of the US Constitution, the Civil War, the Progressive Era, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and the modern conservative movement understood themselves and their actions. Second, by reading contemporary scholarship on the origins and evolution of the American political order, we will try to discern patterns of stability and change that emerge in concert with, or even despite, the ideas and intentions of influential individuals and powerful groups. Throughout the course, we examine the relationship between political institutions, individual incentives and group solidarities, and political ideas. By the end of the course, students will improve their grasp on the history of our political present and, perhaps, gain a better sense of how their actions can influence our political future.