Popular Sovereignty in Historical Perspective

422 Pages·2016·3.4 MB·English

by  Richard Bourke, Quentin Skinner

Popular Sovereignty in Historical Perspective
This collaborative volume offers the first historical reconstruction of
theconceptofpopularsovereigntyfromantiquitytothetwentiethcen-
tury.Firstformulatedbetweenthelatesixteenthandmid-seventeenth
centuries, the various early modern conceptions of the doctrine were
heavilyindebtedtoRomanreflectiononformsofgovernmentandAthe-
nian ideas of popular power. This study, edited by Richard Bourke
and Quentin Skinner, traces successive transformations of the doc-
trine, rather than narrating a linear development. It examines criti-
cal moments in the career of popular sovereignty, spanning antiquity,
medievalEurope,theearlymodernwarsofreligion,therevolutionsof
the eighteenth century and their aftermath, decolonisation and mass
democracy.Featuringoriginalworkbyaninternationalteamofschol-
ars,thebookoffersareconsiderationofoneoftheformativeprinciples
of contemporary politics by exploring its descent from classical city-
statestotheadventofthemodernstate.
richard bourke is Professor in the History of Political Thought
and co-director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political
ThoughtatQueenMaryUniversityofLondon.HisbooksincludePeace
inIreland:TheWarofIdeas(2003,2012)andEmpireandRevolution:The
PoliticalLifeofEdmundBurke(2015).
quentin skinner isBarberBeaumontProfessoroftheHumanities
atQueenMaryUniversityofLondon.HisbooksincludeTheFounda-
tionsofModernPoliticalThought(2vols.,1978),ReasonandRhetoricin
thePhilosophyofHobbes(1996),LibertybeforeLiberalism(1998),Hobbes
andRepublicanLiberty(2008),ForensicShakespeare(2014)andathree-
volumecollectionofessays,VisionsofPolitics(2002).

Popular Sovereignty in
Historical Perspective
Editedby
Richard Bourke
QueenMaryUniversityofLondon
and
Quentin Skinner
QueenMaryUniversityofLondon
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
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education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107130401
(cid:2)C RichardBourkeandQuentinSkinner2016
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
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ISBN978-1-107-13040-1Hardback
ISBN978-1-107-57139-6Paperback
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Contents
Listoffigures pagevii
Acknowledgements viii
Listofcontributors ix
Introduction 1
richard bourke
1 Atheniandemocracyandpopulartyranny 15
kinch hoekstra
2 Popularsovereigntyascontrolofoffice-holders:
AristotleonGreekdemocracy 52
melissa lane
3 PopularsovereigntyinthelateRomanRepublic:Cicero
andthewillofthepeople 73
valentina arena
4 Popoloandlaw:latemedievalsovereigntyinMarsilius
andthejurists 96
serena ferente
5 Democraticsovereigntyanddemocraticgovernment:the
sleepingsovereign 115
richard tuck
6 Parliamentarysovereignty,popularsovereignty,and
HenryParker’sadjudicativestandpoint 142
alan cromartie
7 Popularsovereigntyandrepresentationinthe
EnglishCivilWar 164
lorenzo sabbadini
v
vi Contents
8 Prerogative,popularsovereignty,andtheAmerican
founding 187
eric nelson
9 Popularsovereigntyandpoliticalrepresentation:
EdmundBurkeinthecontextofeighteenth-century
thought 212
richard bourke
10 Frompopularsovereigntytocivilsocietyin
post-revolutionaryFrance 236
bryan garsten
11 Popularsovereigntyasstatetheoryinthe
nineteenthcentury 270
duncan kelly
12 Popularsovereigntyandanti-colonialism 297
karuna mantena
13 Popularsovereigntyinanageofmassdemocracy:
politics,parliamentandpartiesinWeber,Kelsen,
Schmittandbeyond 320
timothy stanton
Bibliography 359
Index 398
Figures
1.1 Stele,calledMarbleofChoiseul,withGreekinscriptions,
c.410/409BCE.Ma831.Muse´eduLouvre,Paris,France.
(cid:2)C Muse´eduLouvre,Dist.RMN-GrandPalais/Daniel
Lebe´eandCarineDe´ambrosis/ArtResource,NY. page33
4.1 LexdeimperioVespasiani(CILVI930;ILS244),
CapitolineMuseum,Rome.(cid:2)C SteveKershaw,licensed
under(CC)BY-NC-SA. 103
11.1 AdolphMenzel,‘Machiavelli’,inAdolphMenzel’s
IllustrationenzudenWerkenFriedrichsderGrossen,
JubilaeumsAusgabe,2vols.(Berlin:R.Wagner,1886),I,
image66.ImagecourtesyofthetextattheInternet
Archive,viatheGettyResearchInstitute,LosAngeles
(83-B7391). 288
vii
Acknowledgements
ThisvolumebeganlifeasaseriesofconferencesheldatQueenMaryUni-
versity of London devoted to tracing the history of popular sovereignty.
TheeditorsaregratefultoQueenMaryforhostingtheseeventsinsuch
a congenial environment. The conferences were made possible by a
research networking grant funded by the United Kingdom’s Arts and
Humanities Research Council. We should like to thank the AHRC for
its generosity in supporting the project, and Emma Yates in the School
ofHistoryatQueenMaryUniversityofLondonforherhelpinadminis-
teringthegrant.WearealsoparticularlyindebtedtoJoannePaulforthe
major role she played in organising the conferences and disseminating
the conclusions of our research. The editors would also like to express
theirthankstoRichardFisherandElizabethFriend-Smithforcommis-
sioningtheworkonbehalfofCambridgeUniversityPress,andRebecca
Taylor,RosalynScottandChristinaSarigiannidouforseeingitthrough
theproductionprocess.Finally,wearegratefultoSarahLambertforher
helpincompilingthebibliographies,andtotheanonymousreaderscom-
missioned by Cambridge University Press for their very helpful reports
on the penultimate version of the typescript. As our book goes to press,
we are very pleased to learn that there is still time to add our thanks to
Mary Starkey, our copy-editor, who calmly and efficiently sorted out a
considerablenumberoflast-minutedifficulties.
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