A political philosophy in public life

the long version

This book examines an unlikely development in modern political philosophy: the adoption by a major national government of the ideas of a living political theorist. When Zapatero became Spain's opposition leader in 2000, he pledged that if his socialist party won power he would govern Spain in accordance with the principles laid out in Philip Pettit's book Republicanism, which presented, as an alternative to liberalism and communitarianism, a theory of freedom and government based on the idea of nondomination. In this book the authors provide the historical background to these unusual events, explain the principles of civic republicanism in accessible terms, present Pettit's report and his response to some of its critics, and include an interview with Zapatero. They also discuss what is required of a political philosophy if it is to play the sort of public role that civic republicanism has been playing in Spain.