Author: Hamilton, Lawrence

Source: Theoria, Volume 56, Number 119, June 2009 , pp. 57-80(24)

Abstract:

What is virtuous citizenship? Is it possible to be a virtuous citizen whatever the form of one's state? Is it possible to be a virtuous citizen in the new South Africa? In this article I defend some Republican ideas on civic virtue and popular sovereignty, especially as found in the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to suggest that popular sovereignty is a necessary condition for active and virtuous citizenship. For it is only under conditions of popular sovereignty that the right kind of political agency is possible. I discuss these ideas in the context of modern constitutional democracies, and argue that constitutional democracy in South Africa is not an instance of popular sovereignty and thus does not provide the possibility for virtuous citizenship. I end the article with a proposal for addressing these deficiencies: effective citizen control over the constitution by means of a decennial plebiscite—a carnival of citizenship.

Keywords: VIRTUE; CITIZENSHIP; POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY; ROUSSEAU; CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY; SOUTH AFRICA

DOI: 10.3167/th.2009.5611905

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