Utopia and constitution: Harrington

David Reisman

Chapter 9 in Economy and Utopia, 2026, pp 120-141 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Harrington wrote Oceana in Cromwell's Commonwealth when there was national debate about social values and the state. Hobbes was spreading the doctrine of narrow self-interest and the protective state. Harrington believed that peace and security were ideally ensured through a reform of rights and institutions. Society is an organic whole. Solidarity and fellowship can only be guaranteed where individual interest is scaled down by a more equal distribution of income, wealth and power. It was the antithesis of Burkean conservatism. A national church would foster national unification. More successful would be a moderate reallocation of landed property even if not of mercantile capital. Accidents such as the dissolution of the monasteries had spread the titles more widely. A great legislator, omniscient and beneficent, will be required to make the requisite changes and also to seal them in through a multiperiod constitution, ringfenced through checks and balances. There should be a bicameral legislature and an appointed executive. Consent and consensus are essential, even if in the short run (at least until education becomes general) the suffrage should be restricted.

Keywords: Politics; Integration; Equality; Organicism; Property (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035368600
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