Influential Models of Political Association in the Western Tradition

In: Publius: the journal of federalism, Band 10, Heft 4, S. 31-58

Abstract

An examination of five models of political association that have been influential in the Western tradition. They are basic, historical-political constructions of reality, rooted in fundamental conceptual orientations termed primordial (construing reality as ordered by some other outside humanity), & civil (construing reality as human construction ordered by will & reason). (1) The earliest political model -- the organic order -- is rooted in the primordial orientation & based on kinship ties. The political is treated as a given order, to which individuals must conform by nature. (2) The covenant community derives from the Bible & is based on a mix of kinship & consent. Covenant creates a political community of kinship based on consent, in which political order is treated as a human creation bounded by processes & goals promulgated by some other. (3) The mixed polis derives from Greek political thought, & holds that the best political order is structured by nature & discovered by reason, while actual political orders are transitory products of chance, circumstance, & prudence. (4) The contractual society is modern & rooted wholly in the civil orientation. The political order is voluntary association of egoistic individuals bound by ties of self-interest exchange. (5) The collectivist universal posits the historical necessity of a global, organic community of humanity. The political disappears within an ordered set of other-regarding relations. Adequacies & inadequacies of each model are discussed & the covenant community is concluded to be the most viable. 1 Figure. AA.