Is small-r republicanism conservative or liberal?
Small-r republicanism is both conservative and liberal and neither conservative nor liberal, in the contemporary, common usage of those terms. It cuts across ideologies, and highlights the political spectrum: Many conservatives today embrace expansive (“expansive” referencing size, not necessarily growth) economic systems and call for heavily restricted political systems, while many liberals embrace expansive political systems and call for heavily regulated economic systems. Any expansive, complex system – economic or political – creates an unwieldy and complicated structure that is not the inevitable outcome of a modern society. We allow such systems to exist by choice in a democracy. Small-r republicanism dictates restraint in both economic and political systems, and the restraint is embedded within the local community acting as guardian to its collective interest. Such restraint is not found in a costly and complex economic system that cannot regulate itself, or cannot be successful
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