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Full Description
The Polycentric Republic presents a compelling and innovative critique of modern social contract theory. It reveals how the social contract theory systematically neglects the interests and prerogatives of non-State associations and legitimates an imposing sovereign State that jeopardizes the freedom and integrity of communities and associations under its rule.
Drawing on neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, institutional theory, and political history, the author invites us to reimagine civil order in a way that is more friendly to the diverse interests and prerogatives of non-State communities and organizations, from churches, schools, and universities to farming co-ops, businesses, villages, and towns. Building on MacIntyre's diagnosis of the moral and institutional failures of the modern State, this book offers a historically informed and institutionally rigorous critique of the pathologies of sovereign power. In addition, it proposes a novel reinterpretation of federalism as a complex, emergent order created through bottom-up, inter-group cooperation constrained by the rule of law but consistent with a wide variety of independent communities and ways of life.
The Polycentric Republic is essential reading for anyone interested in rethinking State-centric approaches to governance and civil order and exploring the merits of non-Statist, pluralist approaches, be they citizens, policymakers, or students of political science, political philosophy, law, or political economy.
Contents
1. Introduction 2. The Freedom to Flourish: The Cornerstone of the Good Society 3. The Social Ecology of Human Flourishing 4. The Sovereign State and Its Homogenizing Narrative of Order 5. How Sovereign, Monocentric States Erode the Social: Infrastructure of Human Flourishing 6. Six Rejoinders on Behalf of the Sovereign State 7. The Polycentric Republic: A Rough Sketch 8. Objections and Replies 9. Conclusion
