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This book examines an unlikely development in modern political philosophy: the adoption by a major national government of the ideas of a living political theorist. When Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero became Spain's opposition leader in 2000, he pledged that if his socialist party won power he would govern Spain in accordance with the principles laid out in Philip Pettit's 1997 book Republicanism, which presented, as an alternative to liberalism and communitarianism, a theory of freedom and government based on the idea of nondomination. When Zapatero was elected President in 2004, he invited Pettit to Spain to give a major speech about his ideas. Zapatero also invited Pettit to monitor Spanish politics and deliver a kind of report card before the next election. Pettit did so, returning to Spain in 2007 to make a presentation in which he gave Zapatero's government a qualified thumbs-up for promoting republican ideals. In this book, Pettit and Jos Luis Mart provide the historical background to these unusual events, explain the principles of civic republicanism in accessible terms, present Pettit's report and his response to some of its critics, and include an extensive interview with Zapatero himself. In addition, the authors discuss what is required of a political philosophy if it is to play the sort of public role that civic republicanism has been playing in Spain. An important account of a rare and remarkable encounter between contemporary political philosophy and real-world politics, this is also a significant work of political philosophy in its own right.
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A Political Philosophy in Public Life This page intentionally left blank A Political Philosophy in Public Life Civic Republicanism in Zapatero’s Spain José Luis Martí and Philip Pettit P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S â•…â•… P R I N C E T O N A N D O X F O R D Copyright © 2010 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Martí, José Luis, 1975– A political philosophy in public life : civic republicanism in Zapatero’s Spain / José Luis Martí and Philip Pettit. p.â•… cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-14406-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1.╇ Republicanism—Spain. 2.╇ Rodríguez Zapatero, José Luis, 1960– 3.╇ Spain—Politics and government—1982– I.╇ Pettit, Philip, 1945– II.╇ Title. JN8210.M37â•… 2010 320.01—dc22 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Sabon Printed on acid-free paper.╇ ∞ Printed in the United States of America 1â•… 3â•… 5â•… 7â•… 9â•… 10â•… 8â•… 6â•… 4â•… 2 Contents Preface vii 1 2 3 The Spanish Context 4 5 An Interview with Prime Minister Zapatero 109 Giving Philosophy a Public Life 135 1 Civic Republican Theory 31 The Theory in Practice? Spain 2004–8 Appendix: Challenges and Queries 69 95 Notes References Index 161 183 191 This page intentionally left blank Preface P olitical theory and political practice occupy different worlds, operating in spaces that are as discontinuous as the many universes postulated in science fiction or string theory. And yet wormholes occasionally open between those spaces, providing temporary portals and creating the possibility of some traffic across the divide. This book is an attempt to record one such opening and to reflect on its more general significance. After his election to the leadership of the Spanish soc