Republican Constitution: Foundation for Perpetual Peace and State Classification

Classification of State Forms

To properly distinguish the republican constitution from the democratic form, we must first note the following classifications. The forms of a State can be classified based on two criteria:

1. The difference in people who hold the supreme power of the state (Form of Sovereignty).
2. The manner of governing the people, regardless of who the ruler is (Form of Government).

Form of Sovereignty

The first classification method is actually called the Form of Sovereignty. There are only three possible ways sovereignty can be possessed:

• Autocracy: Sovereignty possesses one individual (the Prince).
• Aristocracy: Sovereignty possesses several interrelated individuals (the nobility).
• Democracy: Sovereignty possesses all civil society jointly (the people).

Form of Government: Republican vs. Despotic

The second classification is the Form of Government. This refers to the way the State uses the fullness of its power, based on the constitution (the general act of will by which a body becomes a town). In this regard, the constitution is either republican or despotic.

The Republican Constitution and the Concept of Law

The republican constitution is the one established in accordance with the following principles:

1. Freedom of the members of a society (as men).
2. Dependence of all on a single common legislation (as subjects).
3. Equality of all subjects (as citizens).

It is the only constitution that derives from the idea of the original contract and must be the basis upon which all the laws of a people rest. The republican constitution, therefore, respects the right that underlies all types of civil constitution. One wonders also if it is the only one that can lead to perpetual peace.

The Link to Perpetual Peace

The republican constitution, besides having the purity of its origin, being born from the pure source of the concept of law, has its sights set on the desired result: perpetual peace.

If the consent of citizens is required to decide whether there should be war or not, nothing is more natural than to think carefully about starting such an evil endeavor. Citizens would have to decide for themselves all the miseries of war:

• Engaging in combat.
• Bearing the expenses of the war with their own heritage.
• Painstakingly rebuilding the devastation war leaves behind.
• Taking over the debts transferred to peace, which will not disappear and will continue to burden future generations (for new and upcoming wars).

War, Consent, and the Despotic State

On the contrary, in a constitution where the subject is not a citizen—in a constitution that is not, therefore, republican—war is the simplest thing in the world. This is because the head of state is not a member of the State but its owner. War does not cause the ruler to lose the least of his banquets, hunts, court festivals, etc. He may therefore decide on war, as a kind of game, based on negligible causes and instruct others indifferently on the justification thereof.