Abstract
Despite the numerous books and articles that have been written on the political philosophy of the American Western or the unique contribution of Western films and novels to American political thought, little time has been spent examining the political theory of the very first Western novel, Owen Wister’s The Virginian. In this article I argue that The Virginianoffers important turn-of-the-century insights on the relationship between equality and human excellence while also providing a model of and an exhortation for civic education as something crucial for the maintenance and success of American democracy. More specifically, I argue that Wister’s seminal story inverts political motifs about the origins of society and offers a radically pro-democratic and anti-individualistic picture of politics in which democratic and republican institutions come to be seen as the vehicle for human flourishing rather than a limitation on human excellence.