james Harrington (1611–1677)

An attempt to describe how to setup and run a democratic state. Given when this was written it might be an important historical work but that doesn't mean anyone should still be reading it.
It goes into way to much detail about the divisions of the state and how to run the elections etc. Large sections of it are virtually unreadable, they are so boring and meaningless. Also the small parts of interest regarding democratic politics can still be quite difficult to decipher due to the old style show more of writing.
Overall i can't imagine any modern reader getting much from reading this. Reading the wiki entry on it would probably be more useful than reading the work itself. show less

Harrington's detailed argument for an English Republic, and for republicanism. This is one of the most important underrated works of seventeenth century English political thought.