Restarkism: Difference between revisions

'''Restarkism''', ([[Cape Coscivian]]: ''Restarkizme'', archaically ''Rektarizm''), or '''the Four Principles''', is the founding ideology of the [[the Cape|Federacy of the Cape]]. Developed by [[Melvyn Kalma]], it is a philosophy with the aim of developing and uniting the Cape into a modern, [[Occidental]], and powerful state. As defined by him, it is a national liberation ideology with the broad goal of uniting the ethnically disparate peoples of the country and separating the new nation from its previous tribal and colonial roots. To this day, Restarkism remains the official constitutional {{wp|ideology|state ideology}} of the Federacy, and is the guiding philosophy of the {{wp|dominant-party system|dominant}} [[Republican Nationalist Party]].

Much of the ideology originated from various colonial reforms before the [[Cape War of Independence]], where the ideas of {{wp|civic nationalism}} and democracy took root. Following the independence of the Cape, Kalma took the earlier civic-nationalist and democratic ideals and combined them with the ideas of the budding {{wp|liberalism|liberal}} and {{wp|socialist}} movements of the Occident. Restarkism was first implemented during the premiership of Kalma, with the ideology further reformed and enshrined by later leaders into guidelines for governing the Cape.

Yet, the issue of canon is one many historians and policymakers sometimes find moot. As Kalma remarked himself: "''There is no canon other than the four words of the principles. My interpretation, should one choose to follow it, is mine and mine alone. [Restarkism] is simply a faith - an inner power, and one that will inevitably have its interpretation changed in the minds of each individiual throughout the decades to come. This is by design.''"

There are four fundamental principles to the ideology: {{wp|nationalism}}, {{wp|republicanism}} (sometimes rendered as the power of politics), judicialism (sometimes rendered as {{wp|statism}}), and {{wp|reformism}}. These four principles are the sacrosanct core of the ideology and are recognized as unchangeable. Combined, these principles represent a form of {{wp|Jacobinism}}, outlining the use of state authoritarianism in a period of “political tutelage” to break apart the social authoritarianism and power structures within and between existing communities.

Restarkism strives to segregate religion from the political sphere in all ways, with the goal of transforming it into a private affair from an institution of power. Kalma himself held an unfavourable view of political religion, remarking that it "infringed on the liberty of one's fellow man" and that "it makes little sense to impose one's own holy book on the book of another with no justification other than the first book itself". Although Restarkism is anti-clerical, it is not {{wp|state atheism|state atheist}}. It is unopposed to apolitical or moderate religion, but opposed to politicized religious forces fighting against Restarkism's goal of modernization. An early split in Restarkism was the question of whether the government should be in control of religious affairs. Moderates and religious conservatives were sucessful in rejecting the notion, rebutting that a true secular state must also refrain from interfering in the religious sphere.

Judicialism, sometimes rendered as the power of governance or statism, asserts that the state has the power of governance of the nation. It can be defined as creating an “edifice” of the state: politics and the individual may, in the system of the state, steer the Restarkist state but not overcome it. Judicialism therefore enshrines the creation of a strong state structure defined by an apolitical {{wp|civil service}}, an independent judiciary, a system of {{wp|checks and balances}}, a professional {{wp|military}} and the enshrinement of the {{wp|rule of law}}.  

The power of governance asserts a responsibility of governance in the Restarkist philosophy. The edifice of the state must protect the rights of an individual as guaranteed by the Fundamental Statute. It must also prevent the {{wp|tyranny of the majority}}, and therefore defend itself and its institutions. Kalma gave this role to the military, which has invoked it in multiple {{wp|Coup d'état|coups d'état}} when it perceived that politics were undermining the state.

The Restarkist state, with the power of governance of the nation, has also been interpreted to mean the primacy of the state in the modernization and development of the Cape. Kalma intended it as a direct criticism of the ills of {{wp|capitalism}}, proposing the state use its power of governance defend the people from those conceived ills. The nation’s {{wp|social welfare}} system and strong regulatory bodies are a legacy thereof. Today, it is widely believed that Kalma was a socialist, although judicialism has been largely interpreted by his [[Republican Nationalist Party]] to mean a form of social democracy.

Reformism in the Restarkist framework is defined as a constant struggle to replace traditional concepts with modern concepts. This principle advocates for social change: in the Restarkist philosophy there is no way to return to the old principles and systems deemed as backwards. It is rigid {{wp|scientism}}, presenting it as the only objective means in which the state must determine its actions and policies.  

Although originally an ideology with the goal of forming a {{wp|liberal democracy}}, the democratic reforms to Restarkism proved themselves untenable during the final years of Kalma’s premiership. A combination of outside influence and a fundamental disagreement on the shared values of the new republic led to the failure of multi-party democracy, leading to Restarkism’s evolution into a more {{wp|liberal autocracy|liberal autocratic}} ideology.

 

It also asserts that Restarkism must be based   on the material conditions on which it is applied, with reform encouraged to successfully adapt it to its specific temporal and locational context.