Review by Choice Review
This is a densely argued account of how the republican conception of liberty, non-domination, requires popular sovereignty. Pettit (Princeton Univ.) does not argue that liberty and democracy are the same. Instead, he argues that because government is necessary, the only way that government avoids reducing liberty is by being controlled by the people. In crafting this argument, Pettit provides a thorough, sophisticated account of contemporary republican political thought, and the book would serve as a useful introduction to the topic. The republican tradition is situated in the history of political thought generally, but Pettit pays little attention to the history of republican thought specifically. Rather, he shows how republicanism differs from both communitarianism and liberalism, contrasting his view with thinkers such as Hobbes and Rawls, on the one hand, and Rousseau, on the other. Pettit is careful to present republicanism not as a historical concept but as a philosophical one. The fourth and fifth chapters discussing the institutional arrangements republican democracy requires are less convincing but still provocative. Given the density and complexity of the argument, the summary provided through the conclusion may be especially useful. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. P. R. Babbitt Southern Arkansas University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
