1 - Union, Faction and Political Participation

Summary

One of the most generally accepted tenets of political thinking in Italian republics was the virtue of unione, and the benefits that proceeded from it; on the other hand, it was a common perception that discord was ruinous.While the desirability of unione was never questioned, it did not override attachment to factions, or the significance of networks of political friends, amici. That political life was structured around factions or networks of amici was simply a fact in Italian republics, and widely, if generally tacitly, accepted as such.Nor did the value of unione necessarily override the idea that social status had an important bearing on political rights. Whatever the reality, the importance attached to the appearance of unione was one reason for restrictions on freedom of speech within and outside of council chambers.