Modern Isonomy

Western societies were organized along hierarchical lines until the 1700s. In the centuries since, they have reshaped themselves around two commitments: letting citizens take an active part in self-government, and safeguarding human rights. Gerald Stourzh, a political theorist, treats these as one project under the name isonomy. On his account, the goal is a political order, and ultimately a world, in which each person's rights, including the right to take part in public life on equal footing, are precisely defined and actually held by everyone.

Stourzh opens with ancient Greek political thought, setting isonomy, linked to rule by the many, against societies built on graded ranks and against oligarchic and monarchic government. From there he turns to the American experiment in representative democracy and to the French Revolution, whose declaration held that people are born free and equal in rights and remain so. He is clear that extending rights to everyone has been uneven. He traces the gradual equalization of enslaved people, peasants, women, Jews, and Indigenous peoples, and shows how the protection of equal rights and the growth of democracy depend on each other.

A large part of the book concerns the institutions that enforce rights. Stourzh examines the rise of constitutional adjudication, with particular attention to the constitutional complaint that lets individuals challenge state action directly. He also considers how human rights came to be protected at the international level. The result is an academic study of political and human rights.