Competing for Liberty: The Republican Critique of Democracy

Abstract

Freedom as non-domination has acquired a leading status in political science. As a consequence of its success, neo-roman republicanism also has achieved great prominence as the political tradition that delivered it. Yet despite the fact that liberty in the Roman mode was forged not only in direct confrontation with monarchy but against democracy as well, the relationship of republicanism to democracy is the great absentee in the contemporary debate on non-domination. This article brings that relationship back into view in both historical and conceptual terms. It illustrates the misrepresentations of democracy in the Roman tradition and shows how these undergirded the theory of liberty as non-domination as a counter to political equality as a claim to taking part inimperium. In so doing it brings to the fore the “liberty side” of democratic citizenship as the equal rights of all citizens to exercise their political rights, in direct or indirect form.

Foucault, Sovereignty, and Governmentality in the Roman Republic

“…Urbinati has already suggested that one sees in neo-Roman normative theory an "echo" of the Roman resistance to equality. 89 I am pointing to a slightly different, though related, aspect of neo-Roman approaches; namely, to their language of non-coercion, non-arbitrariness, non-domination, and consent. 90 Where Foucault is helpful is not just in alerting us to different sites of domination, but also in exploring how these forms of domination are normalized; how something that is arbitrary, for example, is seen as non-arbitrary.…”

Educational Equality: A Politico‐Temporal Approach

“…Another, more recent theoretician who has also elaborated on the subject is Nadia Urbinati (Urbinati, ).…”

“…For analyses regarding how this concept of equality relates to various forms of liberty, as well as different competing forms of equality, not least the competing neo‐roman republican approach, see Urbinati, . Arendt returns to the specific form of public judgement and how it is constitutive of political action; see Arendt, , , 2007.…”

“…In this regard, Arendt's political thought is comparable with the various attempts to revitalise different forms of republican political traditions. Besides the already quoted Urbinati, , other influential works include Pettit, ; and Skinner, . For an overview of republican traditions, see Laborde and Maynor, .…”

Conservative Roots of Republicanism

“…Neither of these types rule according to laws established in the general interest; rather they rule according to particular whims or desires. David Wootton reiterates this idea in his observation that the republic came to refer to 'a mixed form of government, where monarchy was prevented from degenerating into a tyranny, where popular power was prevented from degenerating into mob rule' (Wootton 1994: 6; see also Urbinati 2012).…”