Political freedom is constituted by institutions, not by the absence of actual interference

Evidence

Political freedom, in other words, is constituted by rightly-ordered laws, institutions, and norms: “to enjoy such non-domination, after all, is just to be in a position where no one can interfere arbitrarily in your affairs,” writes Pettit, “and you are in that position from the moment that the institutions are in place” inhibiting possible arbitrary interference (1997, 107). Political freedom is most fully realized, on this view, in a well-ordered selfgoverning republic of equal citizens under the rule of law, where no one citizen is the master of any other (Pettit 1989, 1997, 2012, 2014; Skinner 1991, 1998; Spitz 1995; Viroli 2002; Maynor 2003; Lovett 2022). In the classic expression of James Harrington, such a community would be an “empire of laws and not of men” (1656, [1992, 8]). — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 22

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the republican conception of freedom as non-domination realized through institutional structure.
• XREF: Harrington’s empire of laws connects to Madison’s Federalist framing and the modern rule-of-law ideal. — connects to: Republican freedom means absence of dependence on arbitrary power, not non-interference. — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 18; Freedom as non-domination is constituted by institutions, not caused by them. — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 1238; Institutions constitute citizens’ freedom from domination rather than causally producing it — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 518 (+12 more)
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 22

Related

• Republican institutions constitute freedom as non-domination rather than cause it. (similarity 0.89)
• Freedom as non-domination is constituted by institutions, not caused by them. (similarity 0.89)
• Institutions constitute citizens’ freedom from domination rather than causally producing it (similarity 0.88)
• Freedom in the republican tradition means non-domination rather than merely non-interference (similarity 0.87)
• Republican freedom depends on laws that constrain power without creating new domination (similarity 0.87)
• Freedom means no one holds arbitrary power to interfere with us. (similarity 0.86)
• Freedom requires a well-ordered institutional framework to reduce domination. (similarity 0.86)
• True liberty is resilient security against interference, not merely its absence (similarity 0.85)
• The republican tradition prized liberty as non-domination, not democratic participation (similarity 0.85)
• In republican theory, law itself creates freedom rather than merely restricting it (similarity 0.85)
• Law that is non-arbitrary does not make citizens unfree (similarity 0.85)
• Republican freedom means absence of dependence on arbitrary power, not non-interference. (similarity 0.85)
• Freedom can be reconceived as non-domination rather than non-interference or self-mastery (similarity 0.85)
• Freedom requires others actually be blocked from arbitrary interference, not merely unexercised (similarity 0.85)
• Freedom from interference lacks stability absent publicly visible protective institutions (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Institutions constitute citizens’ freedom from domination rather than causally producing it #corroborates (0.98) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 518
• Freedom as non-domination is constituted by institutions, not caused by them. #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1238
• Constituted freedom still permits ranking rival institutional arrangements #expands (0.80) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 522
• Freedom can be reconceived as non-domination rather than non-interference or self-mastery #qualifies (0.75) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1207
• Freedom as security against arbitrary interference is not a means-end confusion #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1225