Blackwell Reference Online

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P olitical philosophy [from Latin res publica , public business] The theory of the institutionally organized realm of public affairs in a commonwealth or state in which the people or citizens have a decisive say in its organization and conduct. Republican theory and practice can be traced to the Roman republic and Renaissance Italian city-states. Traditionally, republics have linked citizenship to property , and citizens have tried to arrange government to avoid domination by one individual or group and to provide institutions that would protect liberty. Contemporary republicanism criticizes liberal democratic theory and society on the grounds of their juridical formalism, their emphasis on rights rather than on virtue and civic duty , and their failure to provide the protections that a commonwealth should offer its citizens. As part of its attack on liberal democracy, it controversially reinterpets mod-ern political history as developing initially from republican thought before being subverted by a democratic revolution. “The opposition between liberalism and republicanism, which is a source of inspiration for the recent revival of the latter, is more an invention of this revival than ascertainable historical fact.” Haakonssen, “Republicanism,” in Goodin and Pettit (eds.), A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy ... log in or subscribe to read full text