Disputatio:Forma administrationis

Latine terminus rectus videtur esse rerum publicarum rectionis genera quem Cicero finxit in tractatu De finibus bonorum et malorum; confer librum conversum hic. Textus Latinus et Anglicus ostentantur in paginis libri adversis, ut possint videre versionem anglicum huius paginae in proxima libri pagina.--Rafaelgarcia 23:56, 13 Iulii 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The following book sheds some light on a distinction between vulgus and plebs directly relavent to phrases such as "res publica vulgi":"Ancient Rome in So Many Words", Christopher Francese, Hippocrene Books, 2007. The subtle distinction made is between vulgus=common herd and plebs=common people/demos; although it is described that the in the later empire a distinction was not made. Thus perhaps "people's republic" would be better translated as "respublica plebeia".--Rafaelgarcia 03:27, 3 Septembris 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Vulgus and vulgaris tend to mean "common", and they are sometimes pejorative (the common herd), though not always. "Plebs" is not pejorative, at least not in classical Latin, but it is exclusive: it means the non-noble class only. "Populus" means "(the) people" and is inclusive; it is the equivalent of Greek "demos".

"Res publica vulgi" and even "Res publica vulgaris" might be hard for Cicero to understand. If you set up a government to exclude the nobles from even a share of power then you have set up a res publica plebeia (or maybe a res publica operariorum, a workers' republic). If you set up a government in which all the people are to have a share of power, it would be a "res publica popularis", I think. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 08:22, 3 Septembris 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For 'democratic', Cassell's gives only popularis. So 'democratic republic' would presumably be res publica popularis. But then if we've used up (so to speak) the people-related word popularis for 'democratic', how should we render 'democratic people's republic'? IacobusAmor 12:14, 3 Septembris 2008 (UTC)[reply]

A "people's democratic republic" indeed is indeed exclusive in a sense. It is essentially a "democratic republic" "respublica popularis" whose constitution requires that it consider only the interest of the vast majority of people (see en:People's Republic). Everyone gets to particpate in the voting and in the government, but the agenda is preset. It specifically neglects the rights and interests of the wealthy or anyone who may be a minority in order to serve the majority. Instead of "government for the people" it is "government for the majority of the people". How about "respublica plerique popularis" ="democratic republic of the majority"?--Rafaelgarcia 12:40, 3 Septembris 2008 (UTC)[reply]