ABSTRACT
New developments in Europe raise fundamental political issues that have both appeared before and been the subject of sustained philosophical reflection, especially in France. The political changes we are observing challenge the distributive and extractive capacities of the modern democratic state; they also raise questions about the normative and causal relationship between national sovereignty and democratic citizenship. The fundamental problem with Mendes’ strategy of putting citizenship first was that it left him without leverage on the system he sought to change. The legitimacy of a stable democratic political regime is independent of the performance and policy preferences of any specific government. French political experience since 1940 reminds people that ideas, ideals, and leadership matter. De Gaulle’s strategy, and the arguments he marshalled in its support, suggest how liberty and prosperity could be promoted in a country whose history did not produce the comfortable marriage between a “market” economy and political liberalism we associate with 19th century Britain.
