2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was not only one of the most important leaders of the nineteenth century women’s rights movement but was also the movement’s principal philosopher. Her ideas both drew from and challenged the conventions that so severely constrained women’s choices and excluded them from public life.

In The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sue Davis argues that Cady Stanton’s work reflects the rich tapestry of American political culture in the second half of the nineteenth century and that she deserves recognition as a major figure in the history of political ideas. Davis reveals the way that Cady Stanton’s work drew from different political traditions ranging from liberalism, republicanism, inegalitarian ascriptivism, and radicalism. Cady Stanton’s arguments for women’s rights combined approaches that in contemporary feminist theory are perceived to involve conflicting strategies and visions. Nevertheless, her ideas had a major impact on the development of the varieties of feminism in the twentieth century.

Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton draws on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources and promises to fill a gap in the literature on the history of political ideas in the United States as well as women’s history and feminist theory.

Sue Davis is Professor of Political Science at the University of Delaware. She is the author of American Political Thought: Four Hundred Years of Ideas and Ideologies, Understanding the Constitution, and Justice Rehnquist and the Constitution.

“Davis does a brilliant job of analyzing (while not excusing) the political tactics—and often, political Machiavelliism—that the early feminist employed during her long, active life.”

“Scholars of American political thought have often failed to appreciate the significance of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Scholars of Cady Stanton have often not been deeply immersed in broader studies of American political thought. Davis’s outstanding book rectifies both these deficiencies in ways that will have enduring value.”

“Davis admirably succeeds in this book that integrates the conceptual and political legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton with current scholarship on heritage of the American liberal state. A must-read for students of American political development, women’s rights, and legal theory.”

“Elizabeth Cady Stanton was open to any idea she encountered—old or new, conventional or innovated—except male supremacy. Davis’s admirable book shows that this great feminist’s adaptability was both her best and worst characteristic.”

“In this thoroughly researched, well-written, and engaging study, Davis reveals how Cady Stanton drew upon liberalism, republicanism, ascriptive forms of Americanism, and radicalism in advancing the cause of women's rights. Davis’s historical institutionalist approach to the topic is most suited for demonstrating not only the way in which Cady Stanton, as a political actor, adjusted her arguments because of strategic consideration of the way they were received, but also the normative theoretical commitments that shaped the thinking of Cady Stanton as a political philosopher. The book is a must read for scholars of the history of political thought, feminist theory, and women's studies who wish to understand the full significance of Cady Stanton’s intellectual and political legacy for American political thought. . . . Highly recommended.”

“This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of feminism.”

“A convincing case for Stanton’s significance as a central figure in the American political tradition.”