The republican idea has occupied a central place in public discussions since the early 1980s. This book, by contemporary French philosopher Serge Audier, offers a historical and conceptual analysis to clarify the deeper meaning of this idea. The Republic, which is a key concept of Ancient Rome (res publica - “public affair”), re-emerges in the Renaissance and begins to embody political freedom capable of resisting arbitrariness. Its main tenets are the priority of the general interest over private interests, the rule of law, and civic virtue. The volume covers how these ideas developed from Machiavelli to the theorists of the Third Republic. Today, republicanism is at the center of new debates. How can it respond to the problems of modern societies in civil and social terms? Should it change in the context of globalization and the rise of multiculturalism? Could it pave the way for the democratization of liberal state models? In exploring the basic political principles of our time, the author compares contemporary ideas about the meaning and future of the republican idea.