Ideas

Harvard Account Sign In

Sign in with your HarvardKey to access my.Harvard Student, Teaching/Advising, Delegate, Harvard Chan, Admissions, and Admin.

Brown, MGH, & Tufts Students

Register for access to participate in Harvard cross-registration.

  1. Course Search
  2. GOV 2087

The Federalist Papers
GOV 2087

Jointly Offered with: Harvard Law School as LAW 3430, Harvard Kennedy School as DPI 406

Course Information

Description

This seminar will focus on the eighty-five Federalist Papers, the pseudonymous essays published by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in defense of the new U.S Constitution as part of the ratification battles. We will read the essays closely, seeking to understand the “science of democracy” as it existed in the 18th century and the design principles at the heart of hard choices made by the designers of the U.S. Constitution. This course is open to students in all schools and at all levels but capped at 25. Petitions will be approved on a first come, first served basis.

Class Notes

Also offered at Harvard Law School as LAW 3430 and Harvard Kennedy School as DPI 406. 

School Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Department Government
Course Component Seminar
Subject Government
Grading Basis FAS Letter Graded
Course Requirements Course open to Graduate Students Only
Exam/Final Deadline Dec. 15, 2026
General Education N/A
Quantitative Reasoning with Data N/A
Divisional Distribution Social Sciences
Course Level Primarily for Graduate Students