For the ancient Greeks it was clear. The ideal polis, a self-governing community, had a maximum of citizens. They disagreed on the actual number, but anything beyond a few ten thousand was considered to be incompatible with self-governance. Continue reading On republicanism and federation
Category Archives: politics
Citizens panels
Attempts to improve representative democracy usually involve the use of referendums or popular initiative. However, both are quite blunt tools as complex issues are reduced to a simple “yes or no” and often result in ambiguous results as is demonstrated by recent referendums in the Netherlands and the UK. Continue reading Citizens panels
Principles for Public Policy
In this document we outline the principles of public policy. These principles are:
- Non-intervention
- self-sufficiency
- equitable society
- permanent education
- localism
Thought of the day
Government
should be as big as necessary
and as small as possible
Self-employment and basic income
Universal self-employment and the abolition of wage labor should be the ultimate goal of the international labor movement. It is therefore unfortunate that in our time most trade unions and labor parties are ignoring self-employment and instead pursue policies that perpetuate wage labor. Continue reading Self-employment and basic income
Lobbyism versus republicanism
It cannot be said too often that the word republic is derived from res publica, which is Latin for general welfare, the public good or the common wealth. Consequently the principal aim of a republican government is to pursue public rather than private interests. Continue reading Lobbyism versus republicanism
Automation: the republican perspective
This is the second part of our series on automation. In part 1 we discussed the social and economic consequences of automation. This post will discuss automation from a political perspective and will present a moral case for automation.
Food for thought
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) is an interesting political philosopher. In this post we would like to share two quotes from The Human Condition. Continue reading Food for thought
Polybius on forms of government
Polybius (c.200 BC – c.118 BC) is one of the main theorists of what we currently call classical republicanism. His political thought is heavily influenced by Aristotle, though his contributions are important enough to give him separate consideration. Continue reading Polybius on forms of government
High and low politics
Often we hear the terms “high” and “low politics”, though the precise meaning of these terms heavily depends upon the person who use them. In this post I will propose, from a classical republican perspective, my own definitions. Continue reading High and low politics
