What Is Republicanism?

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ID: 322058
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Republicanism is the doctrine that laws, institutions, officials, and the state should serve the common good of the people. Rome gave republican doctrine its name and first great success, but republican principles did not originate in Rome and are not unique to Rome. Republicans insist that the public welfare or common good is always and everywhere the best measure of justice and political legitimacy, and therefore is or should be the aspiration of every human culture and society. This republican commitment to the ‘res publica’ as the only legitimate business and purpose of government immediately raises the question of means. Republican thought has always fallen into two main divisions considering, first, substantive questions of justice and morality, and second, procedural solutions embodied in laws and the constitution. Neither is possible without the other. Together they engender specifically republican vocabulary and ideals, focused on such concepts as liberty, justice, virtue, and the rule of law. To describe the moral, legal, political, and social ideals and practices these commitments entail is to enter into almost every significant controversy that has ever arisen about law and society. The republican tradition remains unified by history and first principles, presented here in five main interrelated categories, concerning history, philosophy, political science, social science, and law, in that order. The republican standard of service to the common weal is so fundamental and widely shared that it seems ubiquitous, but its implications, when taken seriously, are transformational wherever they appear.
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openalex_W7170074574 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Mortimer Sellers
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197754115.013.1
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197754115.013.1
Keywords Keywords not found

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