Antipower, Agency, and the Republican Case for Global Institutional Pluralism

Abstract

One notable contribution made by recent work in republican theory has been its push to shift the focus of normative political analysis away from the structure of institutions that distribute social goods , and towards the structure of power relationships among individuals and groups within a social order. The republican political ideal prescribes combating power within social relationships that takes a particular pernicious form-generally called “arbitrary,” or “alien”—in which control is exercised by one actor over another without appropriate political endorsement or contestability. 1 This focus on power within republican theory equips it well to contribute to contemporary debates about ins..