The Battle over ‘Democracy’ in Italian Political Thought During the Revolutionary ‘Triennio’, 1796-1799

In the italian Cisalpine Republic (1797-1802), 'democracy' was one of the imported revolutionary concepts that became an object of intense debate.The italians debated the concept at a time when its popularity in France and elsewhere was already declining in the aftermath of that radical jacobin phase of the Revolution. Even if the italian debate may appear as a reflection of a belated and forced reflection of revolutionary concepts created elsewhere, it led to some new applications in new contexts. Democracy was redefined in various genres of political literature, in different local contexts, in rapidly changing constitutional and political circumstances and for the purpose of conflicting political arguments Even the aristocratic tradition of classical republicanism became reinterpreted in democratic terms.