The West's forgotten republican heritage | Aeon Essays

"Governments rise and fall, but the power to shape daily life now flows elsewhere - through markets, corporations and data systems untouched by democratic oversight. A recent international survey found that, in almost every major country, most people believe the economy is rigged to benefit the rich and powerful; many say their societies are 'broken'. Discontent has fuelled a turn toward authoritarian politics, which promises control while entrenching new forms of oligarchic rule."

"It's always the case in history that much about the present moment is unprecedented, and no single perspective is complete, but we don't have to go very far into history to find a very popular and powerful politics organised around an ideal of freedom that made people fierce opponents of political and economic powerlessness. Economic republicanism was one of the great traditions of 19th-century Western thought, and it appealed to those who felt unable to influence the world around them."

"The relationship between freedom and power is at the heart of the republican tradition. For centuries, republican thinkers argued that liberty required institutions capable of restraining arbitrary power. Niccolò Machiavelli's Discorsi (1531) held that only a populace able to check elites could remain free. James Harrington's Oceana (1656), written during England's brief republic, helped articulate the link between independence and ownership."

Citizens across democracies increasingly report powerlessness as markets, corporations and data systems shape daily life beyond democratic oversight. Most people in major countries believe the economy favors the rich and powerful and describe their societies as 'broken'. Rising discontent has driven support for authoritarian politics that promise control while consolidating oligarchic power. Liberals and progressives' unease with power may have weakened resistance to authoritarian appeals. Republican political traditions linked freedom to institutions that constrain arbitrary power and to economic independence. Thinkers from Machiavelli, Harrington, Rousseau to American founders argued that popular checks, ownership and constitutional balances protect liberty.

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