Abstract
Republicanism is often divided into neo-Roman and neo-Athenian versions. Although this division can be useful for certain analytical purposes, both traditions considered separately might provide only a more limited and narrower picture of republicanism, and thus decrease the theoretical potential of republicanism as a public philosophy capable of tackling certain problems of contemporary democracy.
This paper proposes instead to think about neo-Roman and neo-Athenian strands as of two branches of a single republican tradition. The proposed overarching account of republicanism is internally unified by a dynamic cluster of core intertwined concepts (e.g. self-rule, status freedom or equality) retaining relatively stable meanings throughout different historical eras.
After the brief introduction of these core concepts, the paper discusses several major theoretical shortcomings of neo-Roman and neo-Athenian branches and proposes how these shortcomings might be compensated by the insights offered by the complementary strand of republicanism. The paper argues why the overarching account of republicanism utilizing the combined strength of both its pillars might be preferable to both liberalism and populism.
Finally, specifically for the purposes of the workshop, the presentation will be extended by the discussion of neo-Roman and neo-Athenian republican understanding of "the political".