Russell Kirk and Territorial Democracy

Russell Kirk is one of the most important American conservativethinkers. This article traces the development of Kirk's understandingof federalism, which was neither nationalistic nor based inthe usual arguments about states' rights. Specifically, Kirkadapted what the American thinker Orestes Brownson called "territorialdemocracy" to articulate a version of federalism that is basedon premises that differ in part from those of the Founders andother conservatives. Further, Kirk believed that territorialdemocracy could reconcile the tension between treating the statesas mere "provinces" of the central government and seeing themas autonomous political units independent of Washington. Finally,territorial democracy allowed Kirk to set out a theory of rightsthat was based in the particular historical circumstances ofthe United States while rejecting a universal conception ofindividual rights.