Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government

A treatise that revives the republican tradition of political thought, associated with Roman writers, Machiavelli, the English Commonwealthmen and the American founders. Pettit's central claim is that freedom is best understood as non-domination: being free means that no one has the capacity to interfere in your choices on an arbitrary basis. This differs from negative liberty understood as non-interference in two ways. A slave with a kindly master who never interferes is still unfree, because the master could interfere at will; and a citizen constrained by fair laws that track their interests is not dominated, even though interfered with. The second part of the book sets out republican institutions designed to reduce domination: the rule of law, the dispersal of power, checks on majority rule and a contestatory democracy in which citizens can effectively challenge public decisions. Pettit also stresses civic norms, trust and vigilance. Critics argue that non-domination either collapses into a form of negative liberty or is too demanding to guide policy.

It gives a clear alternative to the familiar choice between negative and positive liberty, and explains why depending on another's goodwill is itself a loss of freedom.