ABSTRACT
In the early part of this century there was not only a good deal of interest in the division of power by area, but also in the division of power by function. Issues of territorial democracy were conjoined with issues of functional democracy. There was widespread resistance, amongst political intellectuals of assorted persuasions, to the claims of a ‘sovereignty’ which demanded a one-dimensional obligation and identification with the central state; and an affirmation of a plurality of identities and allegiances which implied what the Webbs (hardly pluralist zealots) described as the ‘manifold’ organization of democracy.1 There was room for considerable disagreement about both the importance to be attached to the different functions (notably those of consuming, producing, and being a citizen) and their structural consequences; but the recognition of plurality-and of manifoldness-was shared ground.
