The presentation examined the evolution
of democratic ideas as they relate
to notions of power and authority
in colonial history. The speaker also
explored the inevitable conflicts
that arise between the individual
and the community. He related
part of his presentation to De
Tocqueville's notion that the Puritans
were not merely the stewards of a
religious doctrine but that they also
represented the most democratic and
republican of characteristics. The
speaker also examined the key
ideas of the Puritan ideology which influenced
later colonial concepts of democracy.
In particular, notions associated
to participatory democracy were
developed: the covenanted community,
the need for small government, town
meetings, preference of public liberty
over private liberty, and promotion
of civic virtue.
Puritans had a tremendous influence
on the ideas of eighteenth-century
Anti-Federalists. Some historians
have termed the Anti-Federalists as "secular
Puritans." Much of what the Anti-Federalists
believed falls under the category
of radical republicanism. Anti-Federalists held
that power, by its very nature, is
expansive. Since power resides
in government and the state apparatus,
it is left to the citizenry to
defend our natural rights - liberty,
law, and property. Lastly, the
speaker discussed the motivations
of the Federalists and how they differed
from many republican thinkers who
came before them: the advancement
of private liberty over public liberty,
the promotion of an energetic state,
their views on human nature, and the
role of institutions with regard to stability.
Mr. Mujal applied his notion of the
expansive nature of government to
the elastic
clause (Article 1, section 8 of
the U.S. Constitution) and redirectits
relevancy to modern conditions: President
Johnson's Message to Congress (August
5, 1964) & Tonkin Gulf Resolution
(August 7, 1964), National
Security Strategy of the United States
(2002), 
and Authorization
for Use of Military Force Against
Iraq Resolution (2002).
