The political systems of the Roman Republic were based almost entirely on tradition, the way of the ancestors, rather than on a written constitution. While the founders of the American Republic looked to ancient Rome as a primary model for their enterprise, nevertheless, in line with the rationalist spirit of their age, the American founders attempted to create a rational set of rules that would guide the conduct of American politics, namely, the US Constitution.These two examples offer a striking case of the ideal types, famously delineated by Michael Oakeshott in Rationalism in Politics and elsewhere, between politics as a practice grounded in tradition and politics as a system based on principles flowing from abstract reasoning.This book explores how the histories of the two republics can help us to understand Oakeshott s claims about rational versus traditional politics. Through examining such issues we may come to understand better not only Oakeshott s critique of rationalism, but also modern constitutional theory, issues in the design of the European Union, and aspects of the revival of republicanism."