The Republican Ideal

A Resurrection of the Republican Ideal offers a unique perspective on governmental reform. Employing traditional philosophies and principles that have largely been forgotten, Goodwin proposes methodologies that are designed to increase citizen participation in this country by redirecting power and funding away from a governmental center and toward localities. Contents: PRECEDENT AND POSSIBILITY; Republican Questions Set the Stage; Historical Perspectives; Government and the Individual; The Alternate Contract Spectre; Extreme Dangers; PHILOSOPHIES FOR IMPROVEMENT; Montesquieu's Theory of Small Republics; Vaclav Havel's Politics of Conscience; Inspiration from the Iroquois Confederacy; AN AMBIANCE FOR GOVERNING; Defining the Solution; Where the Grass Roots Begin; Localism in Action; A Small Republic Example; Grappling with the Issues; Selecting Representatives; WIDENING THE SCOPE; Hemispheric Implications; Pipe Dream or Possibility.