American democracy has fascinated generations of historians. They have probed its philosophical foundations and the structure of its institutions, but their studies reveal little about those who really wielded power in the formative years of the republic.Employing a sophisticated research design, Whitman Ridgway examines the changing leadership patterns in four diverse communities in Maryland from 1790 to 1840. The results indicate clearly the need to study the American democratic process at the local level. Ridgway selected Baltimore City, Frederick, St. Marys, and Talbot counties -- representing the underlying economic and cultural diversity of one political culture, Maryland -- to evaluate who governed, how these patterns differed from one community to another, and how such patterns changed over time. The research design defines the scope of the study. Ridgway uses the decisional method of analysis, determining who actually made decisions, in order to identify the political... Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Community Leadership in Maryland, 1790-1840 (Whitman H. Ridgway)