An earlier version of this book was presented as a doctoral thesis at the European University Institute in Florence. I should like to record, first of all, a very great debt of gratitude to Werner Maihofer, President of the Institute, who supervised my thesis throughout its development and patiently assisted me at every stage of its composition. I also learned much from discussions with Maurice Cranston and Athanasios Moulakis.

My greatest single debt, however, is to Quentin Skinner, who read several drafts of this work while it was still in manuscript and compelled me to a greater understanding of Rousseau's place within the tradition of both classical and modern republicanism. The final version of this work was composed while I was in Cambridge as a Research Fellow of Clare Hall. I would like to thank the President and the Fellows of the College for their generosity in having appointed me to their number. The intellectual atmosphere of the College has provided an ideal environment for the completion of this work.

I would also like to express my very sincerest thanks to Norberto Bobbio for having agreed to be one of my examiners and for his comments on my thesis, which were of great help to me when I came to make the final revisions. My thanks are also due to Salvatore Veca for his invaluable observations on the theoretical problems which I encountered during my research.