Democratic Socialism & Radical Republicanism: The Continuity of a Political Idea

• In Event: Foundations of Democratic Socialism

Abstract

Democratic socialism has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in current politics. What exactly defines it, however, is not always clear. This paper will explore the roots of democratic socialism in what we can call the radical republican tradition of thought, an intellectual tradition with roots in real politics stemming from the work of Machiavelli, Rousseau and Marx among many others. The principles that underwrite the radical republican tradition – that of an associational view of the political community, the necessity of social conflict in achieving freedom, and the centrality of the common good as a legitimate form of social arrangements – informed the mature democratic socialist movements that sought a more radical, modern form of democracy but can also inform once again new movements that are attracted to democratic socialism that has begun to emerge in the era of neoliberal excess.

Author

• Michael J. Thompson, William Paterson University