Richard Bellamy is a leading British political theorist and historian whose work deeply engages with the development of democracy, citizenship, and constitutionalism in modern societies. His scholarship, often drawing from the Italian tradition of political thought, fluidly integrates history, politics, law, and philosophy. Bellamy focuses on the contemporary challenges facing democratic systems, particularly in Europe and in relation to the European Union. His extensive academic contributions include numerous monographs and edited volumes that shape current discussions on political systems.
Interest in citizenship has never been higher. But what does it mean to be a citizen in a modern, complex community? Richard Bellamy approaches the subject of citizenship from a political perspective and, in clear and accessible language, addresses the complexities behind this highly topical issue.
Clear, balanced and accessible, this book explores the alternative of a flexible European Union (EU) based on differentiated rather than uniform integration. They examine the circumstances and institutional design needed for flexibility to promote rather than undermine fairness and democracy within and between member states.
Combining international political theory and EU studies, Richard Bellamy provides an original account of the democratic legitimacy of international organisations. He proposes a new interpretation of the EU's democratic failings and how they might be addressed. Drawing on the republican theory of freedom as non-domination, Bellamy proposes a way to combine national popular sovereignty with the pursuit of fair and equitable relations of non-domination among states and their citizens. Applying this approach to the EU, Bellamy shows that its democratic failings lie not with the democratic deficit at the EU level but with a democratic disconnect at the member state level. Rather than shifting democratic authority to the European Parliament, this book argues that the EU needs to reconnect with the different 'demoi' of the member states by empowering national parliaments in the EU policy-making process.
This book brings together fifteen classic essays from a leading scholar, Richard Bellamy, who traces the history of Italian political thought from Cesare Beccaria to Norberto Bobbio. Written over the past twenty-five years, these works constitute the first account in English of the modern Italian political tradition. Bellamy pays special attention to the different ways various Italian theorists link politics and ethics and their alternate conceptions of state and democracy. Among the thinkers discussed are Cesare Beccaria, Antonio Genovesi, Giuseppe Mazzini, Benedetto Croce, Giovanni Gentile, Antonio Gramsci, Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca, and Norberto Bobbio.