Classical republicanism is the form of republicanism developed during the Renaissance inspired by the government systems and writings of classical antiquity. In the classical period itself the term republicanism did not exist, only the vaguer term of res publica was present. There were a number of writers who wrote on political philosophy during his period whose ideas would become integral to classical republicanism, such as Aristotle, Polybius, and Cicero, but they themselves did not have a concept of republicanism. The ideology of republicanism was developed during the Renaissance when a number of authors looked back to the classical period and used the earlier examples to formulate ideas about ideal governance. Most prominent among these was Niccolò Machiavelli. That classical republicanism actually refers to a philosophy developed in the early modern period is acknowledged by many scholars to be confusing and increasingly some use the term early modern republicanism to cover this branch of political thought.
Classical republicanism is also known as civic humanism, though in certain cases there is a distinction between the two. In modern times Classical republicanism is usually applied to those who are most concerned about the republican view of the structure of government and varies little from liberalism. Civic humanism is wider in scope and stresses the central role of virtue and republicanism's conception of liberty. Important advocates of civic humanism include Hannah Arendt and J.G.A. Pocock , while classical republicanism is advocated by figures such as Quentin Skinner and Philip Pettit .
Classical republicanism rejected monarchism in favour of rule by the people. The notions of what was an ideal republic to classical republicans is still debated. The ideal republic had mixed government and was based on the pursuit of civic virtue . Most controversial is the classical republican view of liberty and how, or if, this view differed from that later developed by liberalism. Traditionally many scholars felt that republicanism was more tilted towards positive liberty than liberalism, in recent years this thesis has been challenged. Philip Pettit argues that republican liberty is based upon "non-domination" while liberal liberty is based upon "non-interference." Another view is that liberalism views liberty as pre-social while classical republicans saw true liberty as a product of society.
According to Hans Baron , for many years the formemost expert on the development of classical republicanism, the ideology was a product of the long conflict between Florence and Milan. Florence was rulled by its commercial elites while Milan was a monarchy controlled by the landed aristocracy. The Florentines asserted that their form of government was superior as it was more similar to that of the Greeks and the Roman Republic. Not only that: Leonardo Bruni asserted, based on Tacitus's pronouncements in the introduction to the Histories, that republican government made better men, whereas monarchy was inimical to virtue (see Tacitean studies). The Florentine ideal developed into the ideology of civic humanism.
Classical republicanism remained an important ideology in the Enlightenment playing a central role in the thought of Rousseau and Montesquieu. It was also popular among the Founding Fathers of the United States.
See also: Florentine Republic
References
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Civic Humanism
- Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1966.
- Brugger, Bill. Republican Theory in Political Thought: Virtuous or Virtual? Basingstoke: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
- Fink, Zera. The Classical Republicans: An Essay in the Recovery of a Pattern of Thought in Seventeenth-Century England. Evanston: Northwestern university Press, 1962.
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