The People
Key Concepts
1. Edition July 2005
176 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This groundbreaking study sets out to clarify one of the most
influential but least studied of all political concepts. Despite
continual talk of popular sovereignty, the idea of the people has
been neglected by political theorists who have been deterred by its
vagueness. Margaret Canovan argues that it deserves serious
analysis, and that it's many ambiguities point to unresolved
political issues.
The book begins by charting the conflicting meanings of the
people, especially in Anglo-American usage, and traces the
concept's development from the ancient populus Romanus to the
present day.
The book's main purpose is, however, to analyse the political
issues signalled by the people's ambiguities. In the remaining
chapters, Margaret Canovan considers their theoretical and
practical aspects:
* * Where are the people's boundaries? Is people equivalent to
nation, and how is it related to humanity - people in general?
* * Populists aim to 'give power back to the people'; how is
populism related to democracy?
* * How can the sovereign people be an immortal collective body,
but at the same time be us as individuals? Can we ever see that
sovereign people in action?
* * Political myths surround the figure of the people and help to
explain its influence; should the people itself be regarded as
fictional?
This original and accessible study sheds a fresh light on
debates about popular sovereignty, and will be an important
resource for students and scholars of political theory.
1. Introduction.
Identifying the People.
The Sovereign People in Action and in Myth.
2. 'The People' and its Past.
Prelude in Rome: The People in Action.
The People in Reserve: From Shadow to Substance.
Civil War to American Revolution: the English People in
Rebellion.
We the People: The American Revolution and its Significance.
Popular Sovereignty and Parliamentary Reform in
Nineteenth-Century Britain.
Popular Government and the People.
3. Ourselves and Others: People, Nation and Humanity.
People and Nation.
People-building.
Peoples and People.
4. Part and Whole: People, Populism and Democracy.
The Common People.
Populism in Contemporary Liberal Democracies.
Identifying Populism.
Populism, Democracy and the People.
5. We the Sovereign People.
Can Popular Sovereignty be Understood?.
Can Popular Sovereignty be Exercised?.
6. Myths of the Sovereign People.
Myths of the People.
the People as a Fiction.
The People as Myth and Political Reality.
7. Conclusion.
Notes.
References.
Index.
political theory and practice, yet the concept rarely attracts
sustained analysis in its own right. Canovan's study fills this
lacuna. As she notes, appeals to "the people" rarely
resolve political disputes for all too often disagreement over what
"the people" means lies at their heart. Consequently,
taking the people seriously proves frustrating for those looking
for clear solutions to political problems, but is inescapable for
all that.'
Professor Richard Bellamy, Academic Director ECPR, Co-editor
CRISPP, Department of Government, University of Essex
'An immensely useful volume. Canovan does a superb job of
transforming "the people" from a cliché into an
important object of moral and political analysis.'
Bernard Yack, Lerman-Neubauer Professor of Democracy, Brandeis
University
'Margaret Canovan's The People ... is the place to start
for those who work with issues of popular sovereignty and find it
difficult to come up with a coherent "theory" of the people.
Canovan provides an excellent introduction to the tensions and
problems involved in the idea of the sovereign people, and does so
in a way that speaks both to students and professional scholars ...
Canovan is most compelling in describing the tensions involved in
the sovereign people. Her analysis is instructive and rich with
examples ... Canovan succeeds in the difficult task of making the
issue of the sovereign people accessible to a wider audience
without downplaying the challenging questions that go with
it.'
Political Theory
'People from various disciplines will find this book useful,
whether they work in politics, political theory, social studies or
social philosophy. But this is also an excellent introduction for
the layperson who is simply interested in these fields ... Canovan
does a superb job'
Political Studies Review
