This book presents a provocative account of James Madison's political thought by focusing on Madison's lifelong encounter with the enduring problem of constitutional imperfection. In particular, it emphasizes Madison's alliance with Thomas Jefferson, liberating it from those longstanding accounts of Madisonian constitutionalism that emphasize deliberation by elites and constitutional veneration. Contrary to much of the scholarship, this book shows that Madison was aware of the limits of the inventions of political science and held a far more subtle understanding of the possibility of constitutional government than has been recognized. By repositioning Madison as closer to Jefferson and the Revolution of 1800, this book offers a reinterpretation of one of the central figures of the early republic. "Jeremy Bailey's remarkable and transformative book does what great scholarship always does: forces us to reconceptualize and reconsider categories we have long taken for granted. By carefully and systematically dislodging James Madison's evolving thought from what he calls the "Madisonian Constitutionalism" that has to this point set the boundaries of our conversation, Bailey has given us a considerably more complex story and made it impossible to read Madison in the same old way again." Brian Steele, author of Thomas Jefferson and American Nationhood "a landmark enterprise" "Bailey's unsettlingof seemingly settled questions is a relentless delight for the Madison scholar on the hunt for new corners of the founder's thought to explore." Greg Weiner, Journal of the Early Republic "Jeremy D. Bailey's James Madison and Constitutional Im-perfection is an important contribution to the study of JamesMadison's political theory and American political thought." "When Madison's thought is analyzed in its ownright, Bailey argues, it becomes apparent that Madison andJefferson are closer philosophically than prior scholarship hasindicated, with Madison prioritizing republican liberty evenabove the purportedly Madisonian value of stability." Journal of Politics The book liberates James Madison from Madisonian Constitutionalism and focuses on Madison's treatment of the problem of constitutional imperfection. James Madison and Constitutional Imperfection is carefully and persuasively reasoned. Noting neglected details in Madison's thought and focusing on his response to constitutional imperfection, Bailey powerfully brings into doubt the longstanding view of Madison as an advocate of constitutional veneration. In doing so, he might even help us think more clearly about the Constitution in our own day."George Thomas, Claremont McKenna College Jeremy D. Bailey is the Ross M. Lence Distinguished Teaching Chair at the University of Houston, where he holds a dual appointment in the Department of Political Science and the Honors College. He is the author of Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power and co-author of The Contested Removal Power, 1789–2010.