Protagoras (490–415 B.C.) classical Greek phi-
losopher and sophist
One of the earliest political thinkers in the Western
world, Protagoras asserted that all adult male Greek citi-
zens should participate in government. This formed the
early basis for CLASSICAL DEMOCRACY. But he also held, as
did ARISTOTLElater, that the capacity for self-rule had to
be taught and developed. This especially required train-
ing in thought (reasoning) and speech (discussion).
Because the sophists were teachers of rhetoric (public
speaking), Protagoras advocated the schooling of
young men in intellectual and DIALECTICALsubjects. This
forms the early classical view that politics is primarily
about thought and speech—rational discourse in the
public arena. The ideal CITIZENin this system is a well-
educated, economically independent, ethical, and politi-
cally active person. This perspective is taken up by
PLATO, Aristotle, and CICERO and forms the classical
REPUBLICANschool of political thought. SOCRATEScriti-
cizes the formal and pretentious qualities of sophistic
education but embraces the ideal of public service.
This classical view of politics continues through
St. Thomas AQUINAS, James HARRINGTON, and Thomas
JEFFERSON.
Protestant political thought
The ideas of politics or CHURCH AND STATEof the Protes-
tant CHRISTIANchurches (such as HUGUENOT, PRESBYTE-
RIAN, PURITAN, BAPTIST) after the writings of Martin
LUTHER, John CALVIN, John WINTHROP, and others.
Protestant political theory can be contrasted with
the views of religion and politics of both the CATHOLIC
church and the Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The differences in these perspectives tend to center
around two issues: (1) the governing structure, or
polity, of the church institution itself; and (2) the
proper relationship between that church and the secu-
lar government, or STAT E. In general, Protestant political
thought has a DEMOCRATIC or REPUBLICAN system of
church government (voluntary membership in congre-
gations) and believes in the separation of church and
state (as in the United States). By contrast, the Catholic
Church has a monarchic and aristocratic view of
church polity (AUTHORITYin the pope and bishops) and
believes in a strong role for the church in state matters.
The Eastern Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, etc.)
share the Catholic HIERARCHYof church structure and
integrate the church even more directly in official state
structures. Consequently, Protestant political thought
emphasizes religious LIBERTYand “FREEDOMof individ-
ual conscience” more than either Catholic or Orthodox
churches. This may be seen as reflecting modern values
of INDIVIDUALISM, CAPITALISM, and democracy.
Historically, the Protestant political thought of
Luther and Calvin came out of a reformed theology
that emphasized individual salvation thought faith in
Christ (over a mediating role of priests and saints); a
depreciation of elaborate church rituals and corrupt
practices (such as selling God’s indulgences); a belief
in the EQUALITY of all Christians (as opposed to the
clergy/laity distinction and hierarchy of church
offices); and an emphasis on “preaching the Word” or
teaching the Bible scriptures as the sole truth of God
(contrasted with nonbiblical church tradition, the
Aristotelian scholasticism of St. Thomas AQUINAS, and
other pagan influences on church doctrine). This REF-
ORMATIONchurch rejected the Catholic, papal claim to
universality, stating that the “united” Christian church
was a spiritual fellowship of all who belong to Christ,
and it advocated an EGALITARIANnotion of a church
“priesthood of all believers,” where no one Christian is
superior to any other, in a worldly sense. This con-
tributed to the ANTICLERICALISMof the Reformation and
ENLIGHTENMENTperiods. RADICAL“anabaptists” claimed
that baptism should only be performed on adult
believers, not infants. Such Protestantism led to a view
of government as confined to “the Sword” or criminal
justice, with the state having no jurisdiction over the
church. The “free church,” then, concentrated on win-
ning souls, teaching the faith, and evangelizing the
world according to Jesus’ great commission.
PURITANor Calvinist political thought (as in Oliver
CROMWELL) saw a cooperative social rule of “godly
ministers” (church) and “godly magistrates” (state).
Such cooperation between Christian clergy and Christ-
ian statesman became the Protestant ideal (especially
in Switzerland, Scotland, Holland, and the United
States). This Protestant view of the proper relation
between religion and politics survives in various EVAN-
GELICALchurches, including the CHRISTIAN RIGHTin the
contemporary United States.Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph (1809–1865) French
anarchist
Proudhon, born into a peasant family in Besançon, is
generally regarded as the founder of modern ANAR-Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph 245