Republicanism

Republican political thought can be traced back to the ancient Roman Republic, its earliest version being Cicero’s defence of mixed government developed in The Republic. It was revived in Renaissance Italy as a model for the organization of Italian city-states that supposedly balanced civic freedom against political stability. Further forms of republicanism were born out of the English, American and French revolutions. Although republican ideas subsequently fell out of fashion as a result of the spread of liberalism, and the emphasis upon freedom as privacy and non-interference, there has been growing interest in ‘civic republicanism’ since the 1960s, particularly amongst communitarian thinkers.

Republicanism is most simply defined in contrast to monarchy. However, the term republic suggests not merely the absence of a monarch but, in the light of its Latin root, res publica, it implies a distinctively public arena and popular rule. The central theme of republican political theory is a concern with a particular form of freedom. In the view of Pettit (1997), republican freedom combines liberty in the sense of protection against arbitrary or tyrannical government with full and active participation in public and political life. Republican thinkers have discussed this view of freedom in relation to either moral precepts or institutional structures. The moral concern of republicanism is expressed in a belief in civic virtue, understood to include public spiritedness, honour and patriotism. Above all, it is linked to a stress upon public activity over private activity, as articulated in the twentieth century in the work of Hannah Arendt. The institutional focus of republicanism has shifted its emphasis over time. Whereas classical republicanism was usually associated with government that mixed mon-archical, aristocratic and democratic elements, the American and French revolutions reshaped republicanism by applying it to whole nations rather than small communities, and by considering the implications of modern democratic government.

Republican political theory has the attraction that it offers an alternative to individualistic liberalism. In espousing a form of civic humanism, it attempts to re-establish the public domain as the source of personal fulfilment, and thus to resist the privatization and marketization of politics as encouraged, for instance, by rational choice theory. However, the weakness of republicanism is that it may be theoretically unclear and its political prescriptions may be uncertain. Republican theory has been criticized either because it subscribes to an essentially ‘positive’ theory of freedom (which is the characteristic position of ‘civic republicanism’), or because it attempts, perhaps incoherently, to straddle the ‘negative/positive’ freedom divide. Politically, republicanism may be associated with a wide variety of political forms, including parliamentary government within a constitutional mon-archy, radical democracy and divided government achieved through federalism and the separation of powers.

Niccolo` Machiavelli - Machiavelli helped to revive a form of republicanism that was based upon an uncritical admiration of the Roman Republic. He not only argued that a republic is the best way of reconciling tensions between patricians and the people, but also stressed the importance of patriotic virtue in maintaining political stability. Machiavelli identified liberty with self-government and saw military and political participation as an important means of ensuring human fulfilment.

Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689–1755) A French political philosopher, Montesquieu championed a form of parliamentary liberalism that was based upon the writings of Locke and, to some extent, a misreading of English political experience. Montesquieu emphasized the need to resist tyranny by fragmenting government power, particularly through the device of the separation of powers. The separation of powers proposes that government be divided into three separate branches, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Montesquieu’s most important work is The Spirit of the Laws (1748).

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) A British-born writer and revolutionary, Paine was a fierce opponent of the monarchical system and a fervent supporter of the republican cause. He developed a radical strand within liberal thought that fused an emphasis upon individual rights with a belief in popular sovereignty. He also attacked established religion and subscribed to an egalitarianism that laid down an early model for the welfare state and the redistribution of wealth. Paine’s most important writings include Common Sense (1776), The Rights of Man (1791–2) and Age of Reason (1794).

Benjamin Constant (1767–1830) A French politician and writer, Constant is best known as a supporter of constitutionalism and for his analysis of liberty. He distinguished between the ‘liberty of the ancients’ and the ‘liberty of the moderns’, identifying the former with the ideas of direct participation and self-government, and the latter with non-interference and private rights. Whereas Rousseau and the Jacobins had emphasized ancient liberty, Constant recommended a balance between ancient and modern liberty achieved through representation and constitutional checks. Constant’s main work is Principles of Politics (1815).

James Madison - Madison was an important exponent of constitutional republicanism. His principal concern was to devise institutions through which factional rivalry could be contained and political liberty ensured. The central feature of this was an attempt to ensure that ‘power is a check to power’. On this basis, Madison outlined a powerful defence of pluralism and divided government, supporting the adoption into the US Constitution of principles such as federalism, bicameralism and separation of powers.