James Madison contributed much to political science and to the artand science of governing democratic regimes. A major contributionwas his recognition of the multiple threats facing the newlyestablished Confederation (see, e.g., Dougherty 2001). Madison waswilling to invest heavily in converting these threats into newopportunities. In his “Preface to Debates in the Convention” ([1984]1840, 19), Madison reflected on the causes for alarm.James Madison Award lecture presented at theAmerican Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting,Washington, D.C., September 1, 2005. The author is appreciativeof support from the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation,and the National Science Foundation and useful comments by BillBlomquist, Eric Coleman, Sue Crawford, Joshua P. Hill, MarcoJanssen, Robert Keohane, Mike McGinnis, Lesa B. Morrison, AmyPoteete, Mike Schoon, David Schwab, and Kenneth Shepsle on aninitial draft of this paper. As always, I deeply appreciatePatty Lezotte's careful editing.