There has been sporadic scholarship over the years regarding the political culture of Virginia and the South more broadly.  

One understanding of the source of the Good Society is, broadly speaking, liberal and utilitarian.  In this view, the good stems from the unencumbered efforts of individuals to seek their own utility.  In the purest form of this species of liberalism, all public attempts to shape the content of individual character are suspect.

One of the reasons that the "republican" thesis of the American Founding (which obviously has a great deal to do with Virginia) was so controversial was that it challenged the notion that the version of liberalism I describe above was prevalent or predominant.  

In a republican understanding of the good society, one issue that confronts publicly spirited statesmen is what John Pocock called "the Machiavellian moment."  That is, one of the challenges that confronts republics is that, historically and theoretically, they are short lived.  They are short lived because republics demand a great deal from their citizens.  If citizens cease to be activated by the right dispositions--if they cease to have the right character--then the republic will die.  So a central feature of republican thought is how to forestall or prevent the death of the republic--and that in turn entails public concern with the character of the citizens.  In this sense, then, republicanism is in conflict with liberalism.

This distinction is, very roughly, related to the distinction in moral philosophy between "act utilitarianism" on the one hand, and deontological ethics or virtue ethics on the other.  I do not see all that much evidence that deontological ethics made all that much headway in antebellum Virginia, but we do see evidence for the continued vitality of virtue ethics.

I would be very much interested in reading scholarship that conceptualizes Virginia and or Southern public/political history in these terms.  I know the literature well through about 1830--after that, however, and especially for the 20th century, I could really use some help.

Any suggestions on works I might wish to look at?

All best,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University

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