WHATS NEW IN THE FEDERALIST-PAPERS

The Federalist Papers is regarded by both American political theorists and scientists as the ur-text of the polity, an assessment which is d erived in large part from the belief in the causal relationship betwee n the essays and the founding act itself. It is this fascination with what is old and new in the Federalist Papers that is the key to interp reting this exceptional text for it is on precisely these terms that P ublius himself framed his arguments as did those who opposed the secon d founding. The thesis of this essay is that these defenses and critiq ues of things both old and new in the Federalist Papers are explored t hrough a set of ''stories'' or narratives about America. Thus Publius' success in winning the debate over oldness/newness can be seen in his excellence as a storyteller. His stories are a mixture of historical foundings both ancient and modem, scripts of the convention and the ra tification and futuristic scenarios. When we read the Federalist Paper s, we participate in his acts of story telling, appreciating and repli cating the pairings of old and new he created, as we attempt to add ch apters to his narratives. Since as Americans we must all begin with Pu blius' stories, if only because of his authority as founder, he forces us to (re)conceive America as an exceptional (''new'') narrative of o ld and new.