Theology and Federalism in Politica of Johannes Althusius
Keywords:
theology, federalism, Althusius, pact, CalvinismAbstract
By describing and analysing the positions concerning the issue of Federalism in the work of Johannes Althusius (1563-638), a panorama of his visions on associations (consociatio) will be obtained. These associations function as a brake in the political power over individuals. They also function as one of the main criticisms to the centralization of power described at the beginning of the Modern age. Likewise, this author can be studied as a link between the medieval and the modern thought. From the first, the idea of an organic society is outlined, a society conformed by public and private associations. From the second, Althusius considers that political and legal sciences belong to autonomous fields of theological study. However, a secular model is not conceived, since a close connection is maintained between the Natural Law and the religious authority.
This paper aims at investigating the existence of a correlation between the Theology of Pact (pactum) and the model of Federal organization. There are many contemporary studies that revalue the German’s work, which was relegated for about two centuries. The main author in resuming the Althusian thought, was the German jurist Otto von Gierke, at the end of the XIXth Century.
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