The Civic Republican Tradition

and Communitarians
Aristotle, Machiavelli, Rousseau

By: Zach Schillace

Common Threads
Wanted

● Express a need for vibrant civic life

● Commitment to the common good
● Appreciation for the role of “civic virtue”

Feared

● Self-interest in the public sphere

● Political corruption
● The common good becoming hijacked
Aristotle
Politics
What is the State
● The State is not an artificial construct but actually the final evolution of humanity’s
natural existence, and an extension of the family unit. pg 56
● Identifies six types of governments pg
○ Three Pure: Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Constitutional
○ Three Corrupted: Tyranny, Oligarchy, and Democracy
● Good types of government, regardless of the methods employed, are those in which
the powerful govern with the common interest at heart.
● Evil types are those in which the powerful focus on furthering their private interests,
creating corruption and the degradation of the state.
On Constitutional and Democratic Government
● Constitutional - where the citizens as a whole govern the state for the common good
pg 57
○ Admits that while virtue becomes harder to find in a group the larger it gets, military virtue is present in
the masses almost completely
○ In this way, only those who bear arms in the defense of their State are citizens. Only those with a vested
interest in or willing to risk their individual self for the state are citizens.
● Democracy - where the interest of the needy only is pursued, and self interest reigns
○ Considers Democracy the least evil of the three worst forms pg 59
○ Susceptible to the whims of a power-hungry upper class who must rule, and then create slaves of the
poor pg 60
○ Creates tension between the classes that can result in a collapse of the government and a
● Since the former is the best but never lasts and the second is the worst, the goal is to
find the “mean” or happy medium between the two.
How to Make Democracy Work?
● Encourages the existence of strong middle class to act as a brake on the actions of the
rich and poor pg 60
● Private property is important, as long as the majority of citizens have it in moderation
● Promote Liberty which Aristotle outlines as:
○ A man should live as he likes pg 61
○ Democratic Justice is the application of numerical equality, making the majority supreme politically
● Any citizen can be elected to public office, with limits on terms and duration of
service
○ Little to no property qualification
○ Recommends the use of the lottery to promote people to public office
● Citizens serving in public offices should be paid for their service
Issues and Questions
● Does not provide a description of how to create or maintain the middle class
● Does not provide for coalitions that may form among citizens in a democracy that
could focus solely on the good of the coalition and not the common good.
● There is no real inhibition to the possibility of a “tyranny of the majority”.
● How does Aristotle's description of democracy stack up against our modern views?
Would some of his details for the running of a democratic state enhance modern
democracies or hinder them? Example: Public offices assigned by lottery.
 Machiavelli
The Discourses
New Ideas
● Democracy is now a good form of government, Anarchy its corrupted version pg 62
● Considers all six traditional forms of government bad, the three “good” versions
because they easily become the “bad” versions. Pg 63
● Saw a cycle of corruption that nations and governments go through.
● Proposes the creation of a new form of government that contains the qualities of
Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy.
● Changes emphasis to the importance of establishing precautions against the
degeneration of the state at its founding.
● Introduces religion as a major factor in smoothing over the public's acceptance of
laws, and creating greater harmony within a society.
Checks and Balances
● Machiavelli leans heavily on the example of Sparta and especially the Roman
Republic pg 63-64
○ Sparta was engineered from the ground up
○ Rome’s system was gradually adopted over time and in response to numerous challenges
● Senate - served the Aristocracy
● Consuls - served as a form of Monarchy
● Tribune of Plebs - served the interests of the common people (Democracy)
● The beginnings of three branches of government (Federal Government of the USA)
● Machiavelli believed that these three power centers will check the natural tendencies
of each other to attempt to consolidate power, thus ending the cycle of corruption.
Place for Religion but not Middle Class
● For Machiavelli religion was paramount to the maintenance of his idea state pg 65
● He mentions key moments where the social and cultural restraints that religion
imposed on the people of Rome often saved it from the excesses of its leaders.
● Part of the importance of religion (as an institution) is that is supercedes and will
outlive any one ruler.
○ In this way he emphasizes them importance of continuity of maintaining the state over the long term
● Describes the Guardianship of Liberty, which Aristotle ascribed to the middle class,
but Machiavelli gives to the poor pg 64
○ Believes that the poor are a better choice, since they are less likely to abuse power or allow others to.
● Even encourages widespread poverty pg 66:
○ Believed that it encouraged virtue, especially because of the egalitarian method that honors and
preferment was spread in the Roman Republic, and importance place on merit.
Issue and Questions
● The overall liberty of a state in which there are possible restrictions on the wealth a
person may accumulate is questionable.
● Both of his historical examples relied heavily on helot or slave labor.
● The Roman Republic famously collapsed into a Tyranny after the corruption of its
institutions, thus not providing the strongest argument in favor of its style of
government.
● Is Machiavelli’s reliance on religion a sign of the generally homogenous society in
which he was living at the time or do you think a democratic state with no real
separation between the government and religion would fare well in today's world?
Would it be more or less stable?
Rousseau
The Social Contract
Change in the Nature of the State
● The State of Nature is where humanity exists as a self sufficient individual. Pg 67
○ Unlike Aristotle, the State is an artificial construct created to help humanity survive.
● For Rousseau the problem is constructing a State that protects a person's individual
liberty, while also tying their existence to the will of a greater whole.
● Devises the “Social Contract” as a solution pg 68:
○ Each citizen gives their individual power and self to the state as a whole and the “General Will”, and in
turn the State treats the citizen as an inseparable part of itself.
○ This forms a new “collective body”, he calls the “public person”.
● Councils against the formation of “associations” or what we would call political
parties or interest groups within the public that can usurp the general will.
○ Calls for Direct Democracy: “Each citizen should only express their own will” pg 69
The Importance of Institutions
● Rousseau insists on the importance, especially at a nation's founding of strong
institutions that will inform and guide future leaders and generations in serving the
general will. Pg 69
● He makes a big distinction in that people who create laws, should not have the power
to enact them. That should be left to the General Will, to the people as a whole.
● Like Machiavelli, insists that religion has a valuable role in society, by giving
authority and weight to legislation.
● While the population in general might take issue with laws created and solely
authorized by man, they will more readily accept laws that are passed with the
acceptance of religious institutions, and therefore be more happy in general.
● Discusses Assemblies as a check on the government, with the power to essentially
impeach the ruler or rulers. Pg 73
Representative Government
● Rousseau unequivocally hates the idea of representative government. Pg 71
○ Councils against appointing representatives of the people, calling it a form of slavery.
○ Also does not like the idea of paid soldiery in a nation.
● Even in the realm of economics and the market, dislikes the idea of paying others to
do one's labor.
○ This is an argument against wage labor and in some ways currency in general.
○ Perhaps within a State Rousseau would prefer bartering and lending aid to replace commerce.
● Especially dislikes the idea of accumulation of personal wealth, and private life
becoming more important than public affairs.
○ Even suggests that what we consider important domestic duties, or obligations should be secondary to
public duty.
○ Mentions the massive slave populations of Rome, Greece, and Sparta and the idea that the free labor of
those slaves allowed the citizens to engage fully in politics and exercise their Liberty.
Issues and Questions
● Supposes that humanity's natural state is idyllic and that we have been forced into society
and states artificially.

● Mentions that no law in the State, including the Social Contract itself is above being
revoked, and especially that individuals should reserve the right of removing themselves
from the State.

○ Is this an argument in favor of an act of succession?

● Rousseau would most likely be appalled by the self-styled Republics and Democracies that
exist today in which people claim to be “free”. Voter turnout is at an all time low, while
apathy towards the State and government is soaring. What would you propose as a
counterpoint to his supposition that outsourcing popular sovereignty is an anathema to true
Liberty?
Bibliography
1. Terchek, Ronald J., and Thomas C. Conte. Theories of Democracy: A Reader. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001.