James Harrington (1611-1677) was a pioneer in applying the methods of Machiavelli and other civic humanists to English political society and its landed structure. In the century after his death, his ideas were adapted to become an important ingredient in the vocabulary of both English and American political opposition to the methods of Hanoverian parliamentary monarchy. This work includes all of his prose works on political subjects as well as Oceana, his best-known work. The critical introduction attempts to revalue the evidence concerning Harrington's life and writings, to locate them in the context of Civil War, Commonwealth and Puritan thinking and to trace the development of Harringtonian and neo-Harringtonian ideology during subsequent generations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Editorial introduction; 1. Harrington's life before 1656; 2. Oceana: the circumstances of publication; 3. Oceana: its ideological context; 4. Oceana: its argument and character; 5. The growth of the canon: the polemic against clericalism; 6. The growth of the canon: the disintegration of the commonwealth; 7. The history of the ideology: Harrington's ideas after his lifetime; 8. The Commonwealth of Oceana; 9. The manner and use of the ballot; 10. Pian Piano; 11. The prerogative of popular government; 12. The stumbling-block of disobedience and rebellion; 13. A note upon the foregoing ecologues; 14. Brief directions; 15. The art of lawgiving; 16. Politicaster; 17. Pour enclouer le Canon; 18. A discourse upon this saying; 19. A discourse showing that the spirit of parliaments ... is not to be trusted; 20. A parallel of the spirit of the people with the spirit of Mr Rogers; 21. Aphorisms political; 22. Valerius and publicola; 23. The rota; 24. The ways and means whereby an equal and lasting commonwealth; 25. A letter unto Mr Stubbe; 26. A system of politics; 27. The examination of James Harrington; Index.