This book discusses whether democracy and republicanism are identical, complementary, or contradicting ideas. The rediscovery of classic republicanism a few decades ago made it clear how profoundly modern notions of democracy had been shaped by the republican tradition. But defining these two concepts remains difficult, and the views diverge widely. The overarching aim of this book is to discuss the extent to which democracy and republicanism are identical, complementary or mutually contradicting ideals / ideas. Pursuing this open approach to the subject means calling into question a widely used formula according to which modern democracy is composed of liberal principles such as individualism, the rule of law and human rights, on the one hand, and of republican principles such as focusing on the common good and popular sovereignty, on the other. This book will appeal to students, researches, and scholars of political science interested in a better understanding of political theory and political history.
Author(s): Skadi Siiri Krause, Dirk Jörke
Series: Contributions to Political Science
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 237
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Republicanism and Democracy: An Introduction
1 Classical Republicanism
2 Republicanism and Democracy
3 Republicanism Versus Democracy?
References
Class Warfare in Guicciardini’s Considerations on Machiavelli: Alibis, Evasions, and Counter-Provocations
1 Natural Goodness/Susceptibility to Evil
2 Conflicting Orders, Not (In)decent Humors
3 A Debate Within a Debate Regarding Liberty, the Nobles, and the People
4 Should the Many Decide Political Trials?
5 I Am Not a Son of Brutus!
6 Revenge of the Tyrant’s Minister
7 Conclusion
References
The Democratic Impulse in the English Revolution
1 Introduction
2 The Change in the Legitimation Discourses of Political Power in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century
2.1 The Erosion of Monarchical Power
2.2 The Erosion of the Legal Primacy of Monarchical Power
2.3 The Theory of Mixed Constitution
2.4 The Theory of Parliamentary Sovereignty
2.5 Declaration of Popular Sovereignty
2.6 Constitutional Protection of Popular Sovereignty
2.7 Further Developments of the Discourse on Democratic Participation
3 The Republican Countermovement
References
The Possibility of Democratic Republicanism: The Levellers, Milton, and Harrington
1 Case Study 1: The Levellers
2 Case Study 2: John Milton
3 Case Study 3: James Harrington
4 Conclusion
References
Democracy in Algernon Sidney’s Discourses Concerning Government
1 Anti-Democracy in Patriarcha
2 Sidney and the Name of Democracy
3 The Popular Republic Described
4 The Popular Republic Circumscribed
5 Democracy, Republicanism, and the Sidneian Republic
References
The Democratic Moment in the American Revolution
1 Introduction
2 No Taxation Without Representation: The Battle Cry of the Revolution
3 The Constitutional Debate Between Federalists and Anti-Federalists
4 The Democratization of the American Republic
5 Delimitation of Republican and Democratic Political Concepts
6 Why the Distinction Between Republican and Democratic Thinking Is Important: A Short Summary
References
The American Founding: From Democratic to Aristocratic Republicanism
1 Introduction
2 Republicanism and Democracy during the American Revolution
3 Republicanism and Democracy in the Constitutional Debate
3.1 The Conceptual Transformation
3.2 The Institutionalization of the Republic
4 Conclusion: The Double Transformation of Republic and Democracy
References
Democracy and Democratic Reform Impulses Before the French Revolution
1 Introduction
2 Politics and Administration in the Ancien Régime
3 Approaches to Reform in the Ancien Régime
3.1 Montesquieu’s De l’esprit des loix
4 D’Argenson’s Considerations sur le gouvernement
4.1 Rousseau’s Du contrat social
5 The Republican Revolutions
References
Democratic Republicanism in the French Revolution
1 Historical Discontinuity
2 Sovereignty as Res Publica: The Case of Paine
3 Triangles and Circles
4 Condorcet’s Contribution to the Legalizing of the Revolution
5 A Democratic Project in the Age of Representation
6 Two Models of Representative Government
7 Political Syllogism and Time Delay
8 Times and Places of Sovereignty and Deliberation
9 Sovereignty of Surveillance
10 Conclusions
References
Republicanism, Democracy and History
1 Introduction
2 Republican Historiography
3 Liberty, Liberalism and Democracy
4 Hobbes, Rousseau and the Continental Tradition
5 Conclusion
References
