This volume examines Calvin’s thought and impact on political ideas. Not only does it set forth the Reformer’s political ideas in his own words from multiple sources but it also shows how his germinal political ideas were furthered and spread by his disciples, both in Europe and to the West.
Calvin’s political formulations on republicanism, decentralized government, and open democracies provide one of his most lasting contributions. Calvin’s disciples—beginning with Theodore Beza, Francois Hotman, John Ponet, and John Knox—spread many of the ideas that are now widely accepted in free governments. Historically, there is a clear before and a discernible after in terms of governmental forms, and Calvinism is one of the major fuel rods for that massive change. Calvin contributed and buttressed ideas like the consent of the governed, open elections, checks-and-balances within government, civil liberty, the right to oppose tyrannical governments, and the need for constitutionalism. Moreover, these seed ideas would not have grown without the support of the clergy and churches who regularly taught these ideas as having divine precedent.
