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James Read

Professor/Chair
Biography

Professor of Political Science with the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University since 1988. A.B., University of Chicago, 1980; M.A., Harvard University, 1983; Ph.D, 1988. He was the Joseph P. Farry Professor of Public Policy at CSB/SJU, and has been Visiting Professor of Political Science at University of California-Davis. Dr. Read is the author of Majority Rule versus Consensus: The Political Thought of John C. Calhoun (University Press of Kansas, 2009), Power versus Liberty: Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson (University of Virginia Press, 2000) and Doorstep Democracy: Face to Face Politics in the Heartland (University of Minnesota Press, 2008).

Education
  • A.B., University of Chicago, 1980
  • M.A., Harvard University, 1983
  • Ph.D., Harvard University, 1988
Teaches
  • INTG 100 – Learning Foundations
  • POLS 377 – Justice
Awards and Fellowships:
  • 2010 Wilson Cary McWilliams award from the American Political Science Association for best paper in the Literature, Politics, and Film section presented at 2009 APSA national meeting. Paper title: “The Limits of Self-Reliance: Emerson, Slavery, and Abolition .”
  • Joseph P. Farry Professorship in Public Policy and Civic Engagement for 2009-2012, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.
Highlights of Recent Publications by Dr. James Read

Books:

Book Chapters:

  • “Bridging the Communal Abyss: Risk-Assuming Leadership and Democratic Settlements.” With Ian Shapiro. Forthcoming in volume on democratic leadership edited by John Kane and Haig Patapan, to be published by Oxford University Press.
  • “Bridging the Communal Abyss: Risk-Assuming Leadership and Democratic Settlements.” With Ian Shapiro. To be translated into Norwegian, forthcoming in a volume on Democracy, Regimes, and Power, edited by Knut Heidar and Dag Harald, to be published by Universitetsforlaget, a leading academic press in Norway.
  • “James Madison’s Retirement, 1817-1836: Engaging the Republican Past, Present, and Future.” In Stuart Leibiger, ed., A Companion to James Madison and James Monroe (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) 224-240.  More information.

Book Reviews:

  • Review of George Anastaplo, Reflections on Slavery and the Constitution. Forthcoming in Review of Politics, Vol. 75, No. 3 (2013).
  • Review of Michael P. Federici, The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton. Forthcoming in Political Science Quarterly.
  • Review of Kevin R.C. Gutzman, James Madison and the Making of America. Liberty Law Blog, April 30, 2012. 

Conference Presentations and Invited Talks (2012-2013):

  • “Transforming Power Relations: Leadership, Risk, and Hope.” With Ian Shapiro. Presented to the Symposium on Good Democratic Leadership, Yale University, February 15-17, 2013.
  • “The Only True Sovereign of a Free People? Lincoln and Majority Rule.” Presented to Lecture Series, “The Past, the Present, and the Future of the American Founding,” Utah State University, April 15, 2013.
  • “Lincoln and Majority Rule.” Presented to the Constitution Day Celebration, James Madison College, Michigan State University, September 27, 2012.
  • “Same-Sex Marriage as a Constitutional Issue.” Presentation for Constitution Day, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University; Part I of the panel series “Examining the Proposed Minnesota Marriage Amendment.” September 18, 2012.
  • “Transforming Power Relations: Leadership, Risk, and Hope.” With Ian Shapiro. To be presented to the 2013 American Political Science Association, Chicago, Aug. 29-Sept. 1.
  • “Democracy, Conflict, and Collective Empowerment.” Presented to the International Political Science Association, Madrid, Spain, July 8-12, 2012.
  • “The Only True Sovereign of a Free People? Lincoln and Majority Rule.” To be presented to the 2013 American Political Science Association, Chicago, Aug. 29-Sept. 1.