Rousseau, Bodin, and the Medieval Corporatist Origins of Popular Sovereignty
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6350656 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dan Edelstein (0000-0002-2541-1119, Stanford University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 142-168 |
| Publication date | 2022-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Political Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0090-5917 • E-ISSN: 1552-7476 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0090591720985452 |
| OpenAlex | W3118383982 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
This essay reconsiders Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s debt to Jean Bodin, on the basis of Daniel Lee’s recent revision of Bodin as a theorist of popular sovereignty. It argues that Rousseau took a key feature of his own theory of democratic sovereignty from Bodin—namely, the dual identity of political members as both citizens and subjects of the state. It further makes the case that this dual identity originates in medieval corporatist law, which Bodin was summarizing. Finally, it demonstrates the lasting impact of corporatist law in eighteenth-century France, highlighting Rousseau’s direct borrowings from the corporatist language and logic of contemporary commercial societies. In this regard, the article revisits and updates Otto von Gierke’s classic argument about the origins of the state in corporatist thought
Aesthetics · Argument (complex analysis · Democracy · Identity (music · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Popular sovereignty · Social contract · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science · European Political History Analysis · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Rousseau and Enlightenment Thought
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |