A Marquandian moment? The civic republican political theory of David Marquand

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Stuart White shifts the critical scrutiny, in chapter six, to the extensive body of thought from David Marquand on citizenship, and especially Marquand’s civic republican vision for a far more energised and engaged public in Britain. At the nexus of citizenship and democracy, in Marquand’s thinking, is public deliberation in the search for a common good as well as the public embrace of duties alongside rights. White argues that the beleaguered United Kingdom, at present, is ripe for a ‘Marquandian moment’ that would help usher in a new configuration of governing institutions, along the lines of federalism and pluralism. White cautions, however, that civic republican processes of public deliberation and responsive decision-making do not necessarily yield social democratic outcomes. Civic republicans can just as easily lean toward conservativism or a radically individualistic brand of liberalism. In light of this, White maintains that today’s social democrats need to focus on rendering state institutions more accessible and accountable to the myriad interests of the public, and that the English, in particular, need to cultivate a civic nationalism that will enable England’s increasingly diverse population to shape a newly unifying, socially inclusive political narrative.