Publius2
Publius2 is dedicated to re-examining the structure of government created by the U.S. Constitution;  focusing on the Senate.  We will examine how the Senate fits into the overall structure,  and try to identify problems and possible improvements in the Senate's functioning within the system.

Toward this end,  we have created a simulation of the Senate process for developing legislation.  At each step in the simulation,  the user makes choices similar to those in the actual Senate process.  Also at each step,  one can imagine the different strategies and maneuvers possible,  and better understand current activities in the real Senate.  We hope the simulation proves to be a vehicle for identification of fundamental problems and possible solutions.

We expect to involve political science experts and interested lay persons in a discussion of these problems and solutions.  Additionally,  we will post reforms enacted in the history of the U.S. Senate,  and identify those reforms which were recommended but were not implemented.  We solicit both your participation and your feedback.

The  'Publius'  authors
During the winter of 1787-88,  John Jay,  James Madison,  and Alexander Hamilton authored the essays explaining the proposed U.S. Constitution,  which was to replace the existing 'Articles of Confederation'.  These individual essays were initially distributed in New York,  to encourage that important and hesitant state to ratify the proposed Constitution.

These collected essays are presently known as 'The Federalist Papers',  and remain some of the most important and insightful writings we have depicting the thoughts and arguments during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.

John Jay wrote 5 of the 85 published essays by Publius. Jay specialized in foreign trade and foreign policy considerations in these essays.  Jay was from New York,  and served as an Ambassador to Spain and France.  As Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation,  Jay helped to fashion United States foreign policy.  John Jay became our first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1789.

James Madison has commonly been called the 'Father of The Constitution'.  Madison contributed  (with others)  the  'Virginia Plan'  to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as a starting point for a final document.  Madison wrote some of the most conceptually important essays about the proposed Constitution,  including the prinicples of  'Balance of Powers',  and  'Degrees of Separation'  between voter and elected representative. Madison contributed 26 of the Federalist Papers essays.

Madison was our 4th President,  but is more recognized for his contribution to the Bill of Rights,  the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.  Interestingly,  during the Constitutional Convention of 1787,  Madison argued that a specific listing of individual rights was unnecessary,  since they were implied in the rest of the Constitutional document.  He subsequently drafted these first 10 amendments as a leader in the new House of Representatives.

Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock, and raised in the West Indies. Effectively orphaned at about 11,  he was sent to America to seek his fortune by sponsors from his local community.  He was a quick learner,  and attended King's College  (now Columbia University),  in New York City.  Hamilton evenutally became the  'Aide-de-camp'  to General Washington in the Revolutionary War.

Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist essays under the name of  'Publius',  and strongly wanted the Constitution passed.  Nevertheless,  he had left the Constitutional Convention in anger,  believing the evolving Constitution did not provide enough power to the central government.

In the new government,  Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington.  He then successfully argued for and created the government-owned  'Bank of the United States' which,  among other things,  was used to assume the war debt incurred by the states under the  'Articles of Confederation'.

In 1804  (at about 48 years of age),  Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel with Vice-President Aaron Burr,  after accusing Burr of something approaching treason,  and thereby de-railing Burr's political career.  Hamilton refused to retract his accusations,  and paid the price with his life.