The first two republics have pretty clear delineations, but the later two were more gradual in their transitions.

I was thinking of the fourth one as basically the post-war consensus.

I would agree with this assessment, but I think the Fourth Republic which laid down the foundations for central control, spying on citizens and the Big Brother syndrome in practice really started by the 1950s, not the 1930s.

winteryeti

The old republic is gone. The constitutional order of the Jeffersonian years—i.e., the so-called “American experiment”—was swept away long ago.

Politics_And_Law

history

By Ryan McMaken

> The old republic is gone. The constitutional order of the Jeffersonian years—i.e., the so-called “American experiment”—was swept away long ago.

* First Republic (1776-1788)
* Second Republic (1788-1865)
* Third Republic (1865-1937)
* Fourth Republic (1937- )