Classical republicanism
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'''Classical republicanism''' is a form of [[republicanism]] originating from and inspired by the governmental forms and writings of [[classical antiquity]]. After a gaping centuries-long period of neglect, its main ideas were recovered and went on to flourish during the [[Renaissance]]. In the classical period itself the term ''republicanism'' did not exist, however the term ''[[res publica]]'', which translates literally as "things public," ''was'' in usage. There were a number of theorists who wrote on political philosophy during this period such as [[Aristotle]], [[Polybius]], and [[Cicero]],<ref>scholar James Hankins would oblige us to include Sallust, Livy, and Virgil, and adds "above all" for Cicero. see "The 'Baron Thesis' after Forty Years and some Recent Studies of Leonardo Bruni," ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 56,2(April 1995), 309-332, at 330.</ref> and their ideas became the essential core of classical republicanism. The ideology of republicanism blossomed during the Italian Renaissance, most notably in Florence, when a number of authors looked back to the classical period and used its examples to formulate ideas about ideal governance. Most prominent among these was [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] (1469-1527).<ref>this would, of course, be the Machiavelli of the ''[[Discourses on Livy]]'', not he of ''[[The Prince]]'', but for some scholars, they are simply two sides of the same coin. see J.G.A. Pocock, ''The Machiavelian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition'' (Princeton: 1975); and Gisela Bock, Quentin Skinner, Maurizio Viroli, eds. ''Machiavelli and Republicanism'' (Cambridge: 1990).</ref> It has also been said that Machiavelli is not a classical republican.<ref>Paul A. Rahe, "In the Shadow of Lucretius: The Epicurean Foundations of Machiavelli's Political Thought", ''History of Political Thought'', Vol. XXVIII, #1, Spring, 2007.</ref> That ''classical'' republicanism actually refers to a philosophy developed primarily in the ''early modern'' period is acknowledged by many scholars to be confusing; hence some now use the term ''early modern republicanism'' to cover this branch of political thought.
Classical republicanism is also known as ''civic humanism'', a term first employed by the German scholar of late medieval and early modern Italian history, [[Hans Baron]].<ref>in his native German, "Bürger Humanismus," the coinage occurred in his ''Leonardo Bruni Arentino. Humanistisch-philosophische'' (Leipzig;Berlin: B.G. Teubner, 1928). Baron believed Bruni to be "the embodiment of civic humanism." see Hankins, "'Baron Thesis,'" p. 312.</ref> And although in certain cases and with certain scholars there is a subtle distinction between the two, they are for all intents and purposes interchangeable. Civic humanism is a bit wider in scope and stresses the central role of civic virtue in the preservation of the classically Roman/Florentine ideal of political liberty. Leading exponents of this dual concept are [[Hannah Arendt]], [[J. G. A. Pocock]], [[Quentin Skinner]], and [[Philip Pettit]].<ref>Hannah Arendt, ''The Human Condition'' (Chicago: 1958); J.G.A. Pocock, "Civic Humanism and its Role in Anglo-American Thought," in ''Politics, Language, and Time: Essays on Political Thought and History'' (Chicago: 1989;1971); Quentin Skinner, ''Liberty before Liberalism'' (Cambridge: 1998); Philip Pettit, ''Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government'' (Oxford: 2000 ed.).</ref>
Early modern republicanism rejected [[monarchy]] (whether hereditary or otherwise autocratic) in favour of rule by the people. The notions of what constituted an ideal republic to classical republicans themselves is still debated. The ideal republic featured [[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 tilted more towards ''positive'' liberty rather than the ''negative'' liberty characterizing liberalism,<ref>for this distinction definitively expounded, see Sir Isaiah Berlin, "Two Concepts of Liberty," in ''Four Essays on Liberty'' (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1970).</ref> but in recent years this thesis has been challenged. Philip Pettit argues that republican liberty is based upon "non-domination" while liberal freedom 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 Baron, for many years the foremost expert on the development of classical republicanism, the ideology was a product of the long conflict between [[Florence]] and [[Milan]].<ref>''The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance: Civic Humanism and Republican Liberty in an Age of Classicism and Tyranny'' (Princeton: 1966; 1955); ''In Search of Florentine Civic Humanism: Essays on the Transition from Medieval to Modern Thought'', 2 vols. (Princeton: 1988).</ref> Florence was ruled by its commercial elites while Milan was a monarchy controlled by its landed aristocracy. The Florentines asserted that their form of government was superior on the basis that it was more similar to that of the Greeks and the Roman Republic. Moreover, [[Leonardo Bruni]] (1370-1444) asserted, based on [[Tacitus]]'s pronouncements in the introduction to the ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Histories]]'', that republican government made better men, whereas monarchy was inimical to human virtue (see [[Tacitean studies]]). The Florentine ideal developed into the ideology of civic humanism, as per Baron.<ref>''Leonardo Bruni Arentino''; also Hankins, "'Baron Thesis,'" 318-330; Pocock, ''Machiavellian Moment'', 86-91.</ref>
Classical republicanism was an important theory in the [[The Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] playing a central role in the thought of political philosophy of [[Hobbes]], [[Locke]], [[Vico]], [[Montesquieu]], [[Rousseau]] and [[Kant]]. It was also basis for the work of [[Founding Fathers]] of the [[United States]], and as such, was and remains the enduring basis of its national and state governments.
==See also==
*[[Florentine Republic]]
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==Notes==
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==References==
*{{sep entry|humanism-civic|Civic Humanism|Athanasios Moulakis}}
*Bill Brugger, ''Republican Theory in Political Thought: Virtuous or Virtual?'' (Basingstoke: St. Martin's Press, 1999).
*Zera Fink, ''The Classical Republicans: an Essay in the Recovery of a Pattern of Thought in Seventeenth-Century England.'' (Evanston: Northwestern Univ. Press, 1962).
==External links==
*[http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/Cavalier/80130/part1/sect2/texts/R_Cicero.html Cicero's influence on Classical Republicanism]
[[Category:Republicanism]]