REPUBLICANISM: ROMAN RES PUBLICA AS AN INSPIRING CONCEPT FOR THE WESTERN CONSTITUTIONAL THOUGHT

Abstract

The paper aims to present republicanism as an inspiring democratic idea, advocated and passionately defended by famous philosophers and thinkers, from the founding of the Roman res publica to the present day. Namely, the authors refer to the concept of res publica in ancient Rome and its two meanings: the first meaning is in the context of a political system, political community, i.e. its separation of powers, while the second meaning is related to the time period of Roman history in which there was a new social and political order. The revival of republicanism occurs with the specific development of Italian cities in the late 11th century. The Roman republican ideal has strongly influenced the early modern philosophical thought of Machiavelli, Harrington, Locke, and Montesquieu, and thus exerted a significant influence on the foundations of modern political thought as well as on the basic postulates of Western constitutional law. The authors refer to republicanism as a concept that is inextricably linked to democracy and constitutionalism, but also to freedom as a bearing pillar of republican societies. In their concluding remarks, the authors claim that Republicanism has undoubtedly exerted a significant influence on the foundations of modern political thought, as well as on the basic postulates of Western constitutional law.