[KC Burke]

The idea of republicanism as a modernism is an intriguing one. It's something that should be explored further. But it's worth noting that ideologies were very much mixed together in those days. In time of crisis, political figures naturally strained to strike republican poses, which they relaxed when tensions eased.

I think it is not so much the republicanism of the founders that he is casting in that light. but, instead, the (Jeffersonian) Republicanism of Jefferson, Madison and those that followed after the demise of strong Federalists right up until the Jeffersonian Republicans became the Jacksonian Democrat-Republicans.

[Huck]

, the (Jeffersonian) Republicanism of Jefferson, Madison and those that followed after the demise of strong Federalists

Do you really think it makes sense to lump Madison in with Jefferson without any qualification at all?

[x]

There's a trick involved in the word "republicanism." It may mean the kind of balanced and limited representative government created by the Constitution. It can also mean an ideology, sometimes called civic or classical republicanism or country ideology, that seeks to create a virtuous society, fears corruption and power to a much greater degree and stresses vigilance, self-discipline and self-denial. This is where Jefferson got some of his ideas, as did Robespierre. There is a good deal of overlap between the two republicanisms in things like the separation and division of powers, though it's true that French revolutionary republicanism ended by by recreating absolute power supposedly to serve the interests of virtue, liberty and equality. In any event, some academics use "republicanism" mostly to refer to this austere and radical ideology, rather than to the ordinary workings of American government. They also make use of the contrast between freedom-centered "liberal republicanism" as a counterweight to virtue-centered "classical republicanism" or "civic republicanism."