Political Participation and Freedom of the People: Notes on Arendtian Republicanism for Today's Disputes

Abstract

This paper derives from our research on the characterization and sources of Arendtian republicanism, and aims to intervene in the theme proposed for this issue about political participation in our contemporary democracies. In this context, we would like to place our ideas with the expectation of reintroducing, through Hannah Arendt's thought, certain aspects that we consider to be central in order to think about the republic which have been neglected in the public debate on contemporary political systems. Such are the place of the people in the republic, their function and their political dynamics in the life of institutions and in the expression of freedom in the contemporary political order. In this paper, we will argue that Arendt's reflections on the republic are intimately linked to the figure, or should we say, to the multiple figures of the people and to the role they play in the political institution of freedom