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Responsible and Irresponsible Opposition: The Case of the Roman Tribunes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2014
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GIVEN THE REMARKABLE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ITS SPONTANEOUS rise to prominence, and considering the sweeping range of social and political reforms achieved, it is scarcely surprising that the Roman tribunate has aroused interest among modern political theorists. According to Karl Loewenstein, this was ‘. . . an organ of officially authorized opposition . . .’. Maurice Duverger cites the tribunate as an example of the ‘separate organization’ of opposition, established specifically to criticize and challenge government policy, while not being expected itself to take part in government. To Ghiţa Ionescu and Isabel de Madariaga the tribunate ‘came near to the modern idea of an institutionalized opposition . . .’.
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References
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