The Economic Basis of Politics

The method of economic interpretation is irrevocably identified with the name of Charles A. Beard, mainly due to An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (1913). Yet, it is Beard's later work, The Economic Basis of Politics (1922), where he articulates the main principles of his method. In this brief survey of Western political philosophy and contemporary constitutional arrangements, Beard concludes that it is well established doctrine that "there is a vital relation b