Restoration of the republic

the long version

Hart revisits arguments first offered in The Patriot (1996) and The Minuteman (1998) for increasing the involvement of the National Guard (the militia of the Constitution) in matters of national security, an argument given new timeliness in the aftermath of September 11. He also offers a consideration of Thomas Jefferson's idea that the growing union should develop "ward republics" by which power could be devolved and local decision-making encouraged. Arguing that the nation-state is increasingly ineffectual in the age of transnational economies and roving bands of terrorists, a time "characterized by the erosion of national authority and the weakening of national sovereignty," Hart makes a strong case for the republican virtue of allowing local people to make some of the day-by-day decisions that affect their lives.