Republicanism and International Political Theory

Abstract

In recent decades republican political theory has gone through a significant revival in the form of neo-Roman republicanism, as chiefly articulated by Philip Pettit. Despite this revival, International Political Theory has tended to overlook republican political theory, and the international dimensions of republicanism are still a subject of debate. Yet at the core of republicanism is the idea that the citizen is central to the way that power and liberty can be institutionalized in both domestic and world politics. This chapter contends that republican theory needs to complement the institutional and constitutional account of republican government exemplified by Pettit, with a greater focus on republican citizenship and the variegated civic efforts conducted by citizens and activists to promote liberty in the context of globalization. This broader consideration of citizens acting both through and beyond the state also requires engagement with critical forms of political theory.