Harrington versus Rousseau: Republican constitutional projects

Abstract

James Harrington and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, modern republican thinkers linked respectively to the English and French traditions, despite having produced their thoughts in distinct political conjunctures, share a notable point of convergence: they elaborated constitutional projects for political intervention. On the one hand, Harrington developed the Oceana project, present in his work The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656), directed at England under Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. Rousseau, on the other hand, at the request of Pasquale Paoli, conceived a Project for a Constitution for Corsica (1765). Considering the ties of Harrington and Rousseau to republicanism and the highlighted point of convergence, this article aims to analyze some republican aspects present in these political projects and, possibly, to correlate them. The ambition is, thus, to raise a discussion and perhaps promote a reflection on the proposed theme.