Dispersing state power across independent governance centers protects liberty without over-complicating rules.
Evidence
We must be careful here—the “streamlining of institutions” that republicans favor should not be one that alienates people from political processes. It is not a kind of over-complication of rules and procedures that would serve no purpose other than to act as a form of gatekeeping. It is, instead, the line of thought that motivated arguments for the mixed constitution, an idea that has been at the center of republicanism since the days of the Roman Republic. While the mixed constitution might not be part of what Lovett calls the “core principles” of republicanism (2022, 8-9; 144), it is an implementation of an idea which for Pettit (1997) is essential in order to avoid the state’s imperium: the dispersion-of-power condition. It is my contention that one of the forms that the dispersion of power could take in a modern republic is through polycentric governance. — Adelin-Costin Dumitru, Forging the Resistive Republic, 55
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies ‘streamlining of institutions’ as dispersing power rather than merely simplifying procedures, and links it to the mixed-constitution tradition.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Adelin-Costin Dumitru, Forging the Resistive Republic: Social…, 55
- XREF: connects to: New commons govern shared resources without pre-existing rules or formal institutional arrangements. — Laura Albareda and Alejo Jose G. Sison, Commons Organizing: Embedding Common…, 65; Political freedom is constituted by institutions, not by the absence of actual interference — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 22; Polycentric governance can generate republican norms without state coercion — Adelin-Costin Dumitru, Forging the Resistive Republic: Social…, 1 (+4 more)
Related
- Polycentric governance favors locally adapted rules that reduce domination. (similarity 0.81)
- Institutions can be designed so that non-domination is smoothly maximized (similarity 0.79)
- Polycentric governance exceeds federalism by adding crosscutting jurisdictions and non-state actors. (similarity 0.79)
- Polycentric governance structures enable citizens to resist domination through multiple remedies. (similarity 0.79)
- Polycentric governance can generate republican norms without state coercion (similarity 0.78)
- Anti-domination institutions must remove power, not just reduce harm probability (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Polycentric governance can generate republican norms without state coercion
#expands(0.82) — Adelin-Costin Dumitru, Forging the Resistive Republic, 1 - Government inefficiency operates as a bulwark protecting liberty from state power.
#corroborates(0.74) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 483 - Political freedom is constituted by institutions, not by the absence of actual interference
#corroborates(0.73) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 22 - Administrative autonomy and rule-following boost state legitimacy and stability
#qualifies(0.72) — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 111 - Stable open government with countervailing institutions is needed to stimulate trustworthiness
#corroborates(0.72) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 519