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The Consistency of James Madison’s Politics

James Madison’s midcareer shift from nationalist to Democratic–Republican launched a debate about his political behavior and the consistency of his political thought. This paper evaluates Madison’s political behavior by comparing his voting record with the voting record of other legislators of his time. Using roll call votes from the Congress of the Confederation and the first four federal congresses, we show that Madison’s politics changed but the change was not atypical. We also provide some evidence for and against various explanations for his midcareer shift. Our study compliments numerous works that use Madison’s political behavior as a backdrop for studying the consistency of his political thought.