Federalism and Liberty

[Mark Graber]

Sandy Levinson notes:

.  But the point of republican liberty, in
> contrast to liberal conceptions of the limited state (pun intended), is that
> the right of participation does not guarantee any right against *very*
> unattractive outcomes.  (I put to one side the restrictions on participatory
> rights throughout most of American history--see Rogers Smith's Civic Ideals.)


I'm not sure an eighteenth century republican theorist (as opposed to
a twentieth century participatory democrat) would make the argument
quite like that.  In a society where the republican spirit is not
corrupted by luxury, I think an eighteenth century republican
theorist would maintain that this is where one has the best chance of
avoiding tyranneous outcomes.  Of course, this very sentence
indicates how far from the eighteenth century we are today and, so,
of how little relevance late eighteenth century republican thought
may be to present debates.

Mark A. Graber
mgraber at bss2.umd.edu