Patriotism and Republicanism

Abstract

With the notable exception of Maurizio Viroli, neo-republican theorists have had surprisingly little to say about patriotism. This is not because they are hostile to patriotism, as some political theorists are, but because they tend to take it for granted. In On the People’s Terms, for instance, Philip Pettit remarks, “Let patriotism prevail and there are unlikely to be divisions of the kind that would undermine the emergence of society-wide norms,” such as the norms that underpin legitimate governments (On the people’s terms: a republican theory and model of democracy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012: 262). Whether patriotism is something that republicans need only allow to prevail, however, without actively promoting or cultivating it, is highly doubtful. As Viroli insists, “love of country is not a natural feeling but a passion that needs to be stimulated …” (Republicanism (trans: Shuggar A). Hill & Wang, New York, 2002: 13). Rather than envisioning patriotism as an independent source of support for a republican regime, though, Viroli takes republican patriotism to be the only authentic form of patriotism. To conceive of patriotism in this narrow fashion is neither warranted nor truly desirable from the republican point of view. Patriotism has a life and force of its own, and the cause of republicanism is best served by recognizing and respecting this independent force.