This is CBS. I on the world. I'm John Batchel. I welcome Ben Crenshaw. He is an instructor at the Declaration of Independence Center, Oxford, Mississippi, that's Old Miss, as well as a PhD candidate in politics at Hillsdale College in southern Michigan.

We're speaking to a review of a new book that he has posted at Civitas Outlook, part of Civitas

Institute at the University of Texas. The review is of Keeping the Republic, a new book from

Dennis Hale and Mark Landy. It dives right into

what is democracy, what is the republic. You will all recall we're often instructed to say,

yes, it's a democracy, but we have a republic if we can keep it.

Ben, a very good day to you.

Thank you for joining.

This is philosophy in the midst of violence around the world,

and it's peaceful to talk to you about these matters.

You're turning to the fundamentals of the American Constitution.

That would be Thomas Hobbs and John Locke and others.

However, I come to your summary of what the main thesis of this new book is.

I have not read it you have.

The quote that you provide.

The Constitution accepted modernity, but at the same time sought to discipline modernity to make it compatible with the Republican government and human nature.

End quote. That's from Mr. Hale and Mr. Lundy.

By what do they mean modernity? Good evening to you, Ben.

Yes, hi, John. Thanks for having me on. Pleasure to be with you today.

Yeah, that's a really good question.

What do they mean by modernity?

And that is modernity has, of course, been debated for hundreds of years.

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