Republicanism

Thierry Leterre

In the realm of political concepts, republicanism appears as the doctrine favoring the prevalence of the republican regime, whether this prevalence is the outcome of some activism (eager to see the achievement of the republic considered as the best regime) or of intellectual considerations (the republic encapsulates valuable political ideas and ideals). A more anecdotic subset of acceptations is linked with the existence (as is the case in the United States) of “republican” parties: Republicanism is no more than the fact of belonging to them. Republicanism is anything but a recent lexical creation: According to English dictionaries, the word made its grand debut in the language in the wake of civil troubles in 17th-century England. Its conceptual and semantic roots go back even further than its 3-centuries-old existence. Coined from the word republic (and the adjective derived from it, republican ), the idea of “republicanism” encapsulates one of those long ...

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