Abstract
If the old cliché that history is written by the winners is true, then it should be no surprise that a legacy of dissent should become buried after two centuries. In this impressive account of dissent in the early American republic, Robert W.
T. Martin resurrects the ideas of those in early America who opposed the majority and fought the status quo. Dissent, for these objectors, was not merely disagreement; it was a central component of the democratic process. Martin aims to restore a lost understanding of “dissentient democracy,” a “democracy that values dissent as an essential core element.". This is not an argument for mere toleration of dissent; dissentient democracy embraces dissent itself as essential to the legitimacy of government.