Republican Theories
Republic (government) Republican Theories
Introduction to Republican Theories
Much of the confusion surrounding the concept of republicanism may be traced to the writings of Plato and Aristotle. Plato’s Republic presents an ideal state or, more accurately, an ideal Greek polis (“city-state”). Plato constructed his republic on what he considered the basic elements or characteristics of the human soul: the appetitive, the spirited, and the philosophical. Accordingly, his ideal republic consisted of three distinct groups: a commercial class formed by those dominated by their appetites; a spirited class, administrators and soldiers, responsible for the execution of the laws; and the guardians or philosopher-kings, who would be the lawmakers. Because Plato entrusted the guardians, a carefully selected few, with the responsibility for maintaining a harmonious polis, republicanism is frequently associated with ends or goals established by a small segment of the community presumed to have a special insight into what constitutes the common good.
Aristotle’s Politics provides another republican concept, one that prevails in most of the Western world. Aristotle categorized governments on the basis of who rules: the one, the few, or the many. Within these categories he distinguished between good and perverted forms of government-monarchy (good) versus tyranny, aristocracy (good) versus oligarchy-the main difference being whether the rulers governed for the good of the state or for their own interests.
Most relevant to republicanism in the Western world, however, is Aristotle’s distinction between democracy, the perverted form of rule by the many, and its opposite polity, the good form. He believed that democracies were bound to experience turbulence and instability because the poor, who he assumed would be the majority in democracies, would seek an economic and social equality that would stifle individual initiative and enterprise. In contrast, polity, with a middle class capable of justly adjudicating conflicts between the rich and poor, would allow for rule by the many without the problems and chaos associated with democratic regimes.
James Madison, often called the father of the U.S. Constitution, defined a republic in terms similar to those of Aristotle’s polity. In his view, republics were systems of government that permitted direct or indirect control by the people over those who govern. He did, however, warn against the effects of “majority factions” and emphasized the rights of minorities.
The Madisonian concept of republicanism parallels Aristotle’s vision of polity in many important dimensions, and both are essentially different from Plato’s. Madison and Aristotle were concerned with the means by which just and stable rule by the many could be secured. To this end Aristotle relied on a predominant middle class, Madison on an “extended” republic, in which varied interests would check and control one another. Madison also emphasized election of representatives by the people. These representatives, he believed, would be less likely to sacrifice the “public good” than the majority of the people. “Pure democracies,” in which the people ruled directly, Madison wrote, “have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention.”” (1)
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Republican Theories in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
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