Panarchism
Panarchism is a political philosophy that assumes the peaceful coexistence of different political systems in the same field.
The term was introduced in 1860 by the Belgian botanist and economic theorist Paul Émile de Puydt . The term panarchy is made up of the Greek roots pan- (everything) and -archy (form of government), meaning a form of government that includes all forms of government.
In the panarchy, all individuals would be allowed to leave the previous government and enter a new one without having to leave the country. Several parallel governments would exist in one area, which would be organized differently (e.g. monarchy, republic, etc.), and individuals could freely choose which they want to belong to. Every government would collect taxes and duties from its supporters and provide them with services. It is therefore essentially about an extra-territorial right of secession, i.e. about declaring oneself personally - and not a territory - independent.
De Puydt took inspiration from free economic competition to propose free competition between forms of government. His motto is “ laissez faire , laissez passer ” also to apply in state politics. The customers (citizens) should choose their government according to their personal worldview and financial criteria, without losing elections or revolutions being necessary. The survival of any government would depend solely on its supporters and finances. De Puydt made comparisons with religion, where monopoly state religions were replaced by a peaceful coexistence of different religions.
Panarchism was called for by anarchists like Max Nettlau , but also by some socialists and libertarians .
In 1997, Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger proposed a similar model, Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdiction . Panarchism also has similarities with anarcho-capitalism .
Web links
- Max Nettlau (1909): Panarchy. A lost idea from 1860. Online at panarchy.org
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Emile de Puydt: Panarchy . In: Revue Trimestrielle , Brussels, Volume 27, July 1860, pp. 222–246. Online edition on Google Books
- ^ Max Nettlau: Panarchy, a forgotten idea from 1860 . In: Der Sozialist , March 15, 1909.