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What did the word “republicanism” mean to Enlightenment thinkers?
I know that classical thinkers thought of republicanism as an attitude that favored homogeneity but to enlightenment thinkers it meant something different- is it that they believed that the people were sovereign or that it’s simply a representative form of government?
2 Answers
- Mr. SmartypantsLv 72 years agoFavorite Answer
'Republicanism' (with a small 'r') is nothing more than the idea that people can govern themselves. Republicans insist we are NOT a democracy, we are a republic, but the words mean about the same thing--rule by the people. Whether direct or representative. One of the major ideas that came out of the Enlightenment was the idea that people can rule themselves. Strangely it's the -Republicans- today who are busting their butts to disprove this principle.
- skeptikLv 72 years ago
Republicanism in the Enlightenment referred to any of the forms of political organization in which the leaders were bound by the rule of law, and power was decentralized.
It could include Constitutional Monarchies, Representative Parliamentary systems, even Direct Democracies.
The defining characteristic was that the right to govern derived from the consent of the governed, however that consent was expressed.
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The famous quote from Ben Franklin when asked what form of government the U.S. had - "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it," was contrasting the new nation with a monarchy, NOT with a *democracy* as it is commonly stated in recent years.
