5 - A Well-ordered Republic

Summary

The model of how republican government should work that was most often invoked in council debates or by commissions framing legislation was an abstract one, the “well-ordered republic”. A well-ordered republic was not seen as necessarily unchanging. Reforms could be presented as needed not just to correct abuses, but to restore and reinvigorate institutions, or as essential routine maintenance of the workings of government. In practice, what were presented as reforms of institutions were often changes introduced to consolidate or strengthen particular regimes. Reform of laws was less liable to be a political partisan measure, but the administration of justice was always open to political influence. The fair and effective administration of justice was a cornerstone of any concept of a well-ordered republic, but for those involved in partisan regimes, whether good justice was impartial justice was open to question, and their idea of a well-ordered republic was one ordered to suit them.