James Harrington

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James Harrington (or Harington; 3 January 1611 – 11 September 1677) was an English political theorist known for his contributions to classical republican thought. He is best known for The Commonwealth of Oceana (1656), an exposition of an ideal republican constitution, based on Aristotle's theories of constitutional stability and revolution, conceived as a model for the Commonwealth of England that had emerged following the execution of Charles I of England in 1649. The reaction to the book by Oliver Cromwell was unfavourable, and it had initially been pulled out of print. The restored monarchy of Charles II had imprisoned Harrington, and he ultimately succumbed to resulting physical and mental ailments after his release. His vision of an aristocracy with limited powers, of a strong middle class contributing to the stability of a democracy and of a separation of economic and political power has influenced classical republicanism in the United States of America, including the development of the Articles of Confederation, the democratic agrarianism of Thomas Jefferson and the anti-oligarchy policies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.