Birthright Democracy: Nationhood and Constitutional Self-Government in History
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BIRTHRIGHT DEMOCRACY: NATIONHOOD AND CONSTITUTIONAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN HISTORY By Ethan Alexander-Davey A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 2013 Date of final oral examination: 8/16/13 The dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Richard Avramenko, Political Science Daniel Kapust, Political Science James Klausen, Political Science Howard Schweber, Political Science Johann Sommerville, History i Abstract How did constitutionally limited government and democracy emerge in the West? Many scholars from many different perspectives have attempted to answer this question. I identify the emergence of these forms of self-government with early modern nationalism. Broadly speaking, nationalism of the right sort provides indispensable resources both for united popular resistance against autocratic rule, and for the formation and legitimation of national systems self- governance. Resistance and self-government both require a national consciousness that includes a myth of national origin, a national language, a common faith, and, crucially, native traditions of self-government, and stories of heroic ancestors who successfully defended those traditions against usurpers and tyrants. It is through national consciousness that abstract theories of resistance and self-government become concrete and tenable. It is though national fellowship that the idea of a political nation, possessing the right to make rulers accountable to its will, comes into existence and is sustained over time. My arguments basically fall under two headings, historical and theoretical. By an examination of the nationalist political thought of early modern European countries, I intend to establish important historical connections between the rise of nationalism and the emergence of self-government. But I also intend through the examination of the very same materials to emphasize that a certain set of nationalist assumptions is indispensable for making self-government coherent. The main body of the work consists of an in-depth examination of the early modern nationalist political thought of three Europeans nations, the Netherlands, England and Russia. Acknowledgements This dissertation never would have been written without the help of a several different people and institutions. Thanks are due to the graduate school of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for providing me with the opportunity to pursue this work, and the means to support myself while pursuing it. Two very generous fellowships from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute also supplied much needed financial support and time. A paper written for one of Jimmy Klausen’s always fascinating graduate seminars was the germ of this work. The initial idea was much improved and refined by conversations with him, and the others, especially my advisor Rick Avramenko, and also Howard Schweber, Dan Kapust, and Johann Sommerville. Thanks are also due to my parents, who have been unfailingly patient, and have provided financial and moral support through the entire process. ii Table of Contents Chapter I – Nationhood and Constitutional Self-Government ....................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 2. Early Modern Nationalism and Nationalism in General ........................................................................................ 3 3. Nationhood and Constitutional Self-Government (or “Liberal Democracy”) ....................................................... 6 4. Nationhood and Self-Government, Early Modern and Contemporary ................................................................ 12 5. On Prejudice: or, the “more than rational” and “irrational” bases of political knowledge .................................. 20 6. Forensic History and Epic History ....................................................................................................................... 26 7. Narratives of Nationhood and Constitutional Self-Government .......................................................................... 32 8. Establishing and Restoring Constitutional Self-Government .............................................................................. 41 CHAPTER II — The Netherlands ............................................................................................................................... 53 1. Absolutism Spanish and Dutch ............................................................................................................................ 53 2. Narratives of Dutch Nationhood and Liberty ....................................................................................................... 55 3. The Attempted Compromise of 1566 and Orange’s Justification of 1568 .......................................................... 61 4. Foreigners, the Common Fatherland and the Courage of Ancestors: Three Pamphlets from the 1570s. ............ 68 A Defence and True Declaration .......................................................................................................................... 68 The Discourse of Junius de Jonghe ...................................................................................................................... 77 The Address and Opening .................................................................................................................................... 83 5. The Apology of William of Orange and the Dutch Declaration of Independence ............................................... 92 6. The Catholic-Protestant Conundrum and the Anjou Debacle ............................................................................ 106 7. “Our Ancestors the Batavians” and Dutch National Sovereignty ...................................................................... 115 Hugo Grotius: The Antiquity of the Batavian Republic (1610) ......................................................................... 119 Chapter III — England .............................................................................................................................................. 136 1. Absolute Monarchy: Hobbes and the Norman Conquest ................................................................................... 136 2. ‘Our Saxons,’ the Ancient Constitution, the Norman Yoke, and Protestantism ................................................ 142 3. Coke and Selden on the Liberties of Englishmen .............................................................................................. 147 Sir Edward Coke and the Reconquest of England ............................................................................................. 147 John Selden: ‘Our Saxons’ and the Ancient Constitution .................................................................................. 156 Coke and Selden on Law-making, the Constitution, and the Petition of Right ................................................. 160 4. The Civil War and the Struggle for Sovereignty ................................................................................................ 166 Philip Hunton on Consent, Resistance and Divided Sovereignty (1643) .......................................................... 166 5. Nathaniel Bacon and the Saxons: Englishmen’s Better Selves (1647) .............................................................. 177 6. The Anti-Normanism of the Meaner Sort and Rationalistic Nationalism .......................................................... 184 St. Edward’s Ghost and the rights of the “meaner sort” .................................................................................... 184 The Army Debates: Resistance, the Constitution, and Universal Manhood Suffrage ....................................... 191 Right of Resistance and Constitutional Reform ................................................................................................. 192 iii The Levellers and Ecclesiastical Government ................................................................................................... 198 Who is a Citizen? The Putney Debaters vs. John Locke .................................................................................... 200 7. The Lord Protector Conquered by the Ancient Constitution ............................................................................. 209 8. Reflections on the disorder of interregnum and prelude to 1689—George Lawson: Examination of Hobbes, and Politica Sacra et Civilis .......................................................................................................................................... 219 Lawson on National Sovereignty and Nation Unity .......................................................................................... 219 The Problem with Locke .................................................................................................................................... 221 Lawson on Constitutionalism and the Liberties of Englishmen ........................................................................ 230 Lawson on Ecclesiastical Government .............................................................................................................. 235 Lawson and the Restitution of the Ancient Constitution in Church