Talk:Republicanism

This article merges the ideology of republicanism with the form of governance of republic. This is not appropriate, as they need to be treated quite separately. --Martin Baldwin-Edwards 05:48, 27 September 2007 (CDT)

the ideology is all about setting up a government and a citizenry that actually operates like a republic, so it's pretty hard to separate the theory and the practice. Richard Jensen 10:55, 27 September 2007 (CDT)

Well, I think you could make the same case for almost all political forms with an attached ideology. Even monarchy has monarchists who have adopted that ideology. I think we need to have a shorter article on the Republic which references the detailed historical issues in this article.--Martin Baldwin-Edwards 11:47, 27 September 2007 (CDT)

In political history the creation of a republic was driven by the ideas, as worked out by theorists and philosophers. That was certainly not the case for monarchies -- the king came first, hired the necessary chroniclers and defenders, and beheaded his critics.Richard Jensen 12:33, 27 September 2007 (CDT)

Certainly, in historical terms, However, in those countries where there has been recent ideological debate about constitutional form, the monarchists have struggled to invent an ideology mirroring the republican one. I agree that in such as case it is easier to distinguish because of the post hoc construction of ideology, but still, we need to have an article on Republic. --Martin Baldwin-Edwards 12:37, 27 September 2007 (CDT)

I think what you want is an article on monarchies -- with attention to issues like the divine right of kings, and how a couple (Charles I, Louis XVI) got beheaded for the wrong ideas.Richard Jensen 12:42, 27 September 2007 (CDT)