Politica (ebook)

Argumento de Politica (ebook)

Drawing deeply from Aristotle and biblical teaching, Politica presents a unique vision of the commonwealth as a harmonious ordering of natural associations. According to Althusius, the purpose of the state is to protect and encourage social life. The family is the most natural of human associations, and all other unions derive from it. Power and authority properly grow from more local to more general associations.

Of particular interest to the modern reader is Althusius's theory of federalism. It does not refer merely to a division of powers between central and state governments, but to an ascending scale of authority in which higher institutions rely on the consent of local and voluntary associations.

Johannes Althusius (1557–1638) was a German political and legal philosopher.

Frederick S. Carn was Professor Emeritus of Ethics at the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

Daniel J. Elazar is Director of the Center for the Study of Federalism at Temple University and Professor of Political Science at Temple and at Bar Ilan University in Israel.0Translator’s Introduction, ix
FREDERICK S. CARNEY Althusius’ Grand Design for a Federal Commonwealth, xxxv
DANIEL J. ELAZAR Althusius’ Literary Sources Referred to in This Translation, xlvii Schema: Althusius’ Outline of the Book, lviii Note on the Liberty Fund Edition, lxi Preface to the First Edition (1603) 3 Preface to the Third Edition (1614) 11 I
The General Elements of Politics 17
II-III
The Family 27
IV
The Collegium 33
V-VI
The City 39
VII-VIII
The Province 51
IX
Political Sovereignty and Ecclesiastical Communication 66
X-XVII
Secular Communication 79
XVIII
The Ephors and Their Duties 92
XIX-XX
The Constituting of the Supreme Magistrate 120
XXI-XXVII
Political Prudence in the Administration of the Commonwealth 135
XXVIII
Ecclesiastical Administration 159
XXIX-XXXVII
Secular Administration 175
XXXVIII
Tyranny and Its Remedies 191
XXXIX
Types of Supreme Magistrate 201
Collation of This Translation with the 1614 Edition, 209
The Writings of Johannes Althusius, 213
Select Bibliography, 219 Index, 223