In Defence of Republicanism: A Reply to George Williams
| DOI | 10.22145/flr.23.2.8 |
| Author | Andrew Fraser |
| Published date | 01 June 1995 |
| Date | 01 June 1995 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
IN
DEFENCE OF REPUBLICANISM: AREPLY
TO
GEORGE
WILLIAMS
Andrew
Fraser*
INTRODUCTION
George Williams poses a
very
topical question:1is arepublican
tradition
for
Australia
either
possible
or
desirable? Simply
by
recognising republicanism as a
tradition
deeply
rooted
in
the
history
of
Western
political thought, Williams
helps
to take
us
beyond
the
current
officially
sponsored
nativist
campaign
to
rid
us
of
our
"foreign"
Queen.
Republicanism is acomplex
phenomenon
that
first
became
manifest
in
the
world
of
classical antiquity. The
strength
of Williams's article lies
in
the
impulse
to
break
free
from
the
banal
parochialism of
the
republic
promoted
by
the
Australian
Republican
Movement
and
a
compliant
media
eager
to service
the
perceived legitimation
needs
of
the
national
government.
In
the
American
constitutional
tradition
Williams finds arich store of
ideas
about
the
role of
an
active citizenry
in
the creation
and
preservation
of afree
republican
society. The
idea
of
the
republic
in
America
did
not
begin
or
end
with
the
removal
of a
"foreign" monarch. Republicanism
inspired
the transformation of
American
society
after
the
overthrow
of
the
British monarchy.2 It
was
that
social
revolution
which
transformed
"a
petty
rebellion
within
the
Empire
into a
symbol
of liberation for all
mankind"3.
Even
so, for
over
two
centuries
now,
most
British subjects
in
the
far-flung
settler
dominions
have
remained
loyal to
the
Crown
and
resistant to
the
lure
of Yankee
republicanism.
In
fact Williams also concludes
that
civic republicanism
in
anything
like
that
American
sense is
probably
neither
possible
nor
particularly desirable
in
Australia.
Unfortunately
his entire
argument
betrays
an
incomplete
understanding
of
both
republicanism
and
what
he
calls "the
Australian
constitutional tradition".4
The
weakness
of Williams's piece lies
not
just
in
his preference for
"our
own"
Australian
"model of
the
Westminster tradition",5
but
also
in
the
manner
in
which
he
portrays
republican
alternatives to
the
established constitutional order.
Constitutional
scholars
should
welcome Williams's effort to
broaden
the
terms
of
the
republicanism
1
2
3
4
5
School of Law, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW.
George Williams, "A Republican Tradition for Australia?" (1995) 23 F L Rev
133.
Gordon
SWood,
The
Radicalism
of
the
American Revolution
(1993).
Pauline
Maier,
From
R.esistance
to
Revolution;
Colonial
Radicals
and
the
Development
of
Resistance
to
Britain, 1765-1776 (1972)
at
272.
GWilliams, above n 1 at 143.
Ibid
at
148.
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