ABSTRACT
The republican perspective offers a critique of liberal-democracy and of the fragmentation of that political system in its contemporary forms. This leads to the alienation of citizens from the political institutions and processes which define liberal-democracy. How could this alienation be overcome, and a different form of political system be created, which is labelled here the new republic? Discussions of republicanism and of citizenship are lacking in exploration of the means by which political transformation could be effected. Their analysis is therefore open to the charge of utopianism since they do not include sufficient examination of strategies to bring about changes in the structure of liberal-democracy. Hence the importance of the question of agency which points to ways in which some of the ideas presented in earlier chapters might be implemented.
