How does France reconcile the modern movement toward pluralism and
decentralization with a strong central governing power? One of the
country's most distinguished political historians offers a radical
new interpretation of the development of democracy in France and
the relationship between government and its citizens.
Since the publication of Tocqueville's "Ancient Regime and the
Revolution," French political structures have been viewed as the
pure expression of a native Jacobinism, itself the continuation of
an old absolutism. This interpretation has served as both a
diagnosis of and an excuse for the inability to accept pluralism
and decentralization as norms of a modern democracy, as evidenced
in such policies as the persistence of the role of prefects and the
ban on headscarves in schools.
Pierre Rosanvallon, by contrast, argues that the French have
cherished and demonized Jacobinism at the same time; their hearts
followed Robespierre, but their heads turned toward Benjamin
Constant. "The Demands of Liberty" traces the long history of
resistance to Jacobinism, including the creation of associations
and unions and the implementation of elements of decentralization.
Behind the ideological triumph of the state lies the conflicting
creation of an active civil society.
In exploring these tensions, Rosanvallon takes the debate far
beyond traditional views of liberalism versus republicanism and
offers an innovative analysis of why the French system has worked
despite Jacobinism.
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