Restarkism

The flag of the Republican Nationalist Party, containing a four-pointed star representing the four principles and their Coscivian inspiration.

Restarkism, (Cape Coscivian: Restarkizme, archaically Rektarizm), or the Four Principles, is the founding ideology of the 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 state ideology of the Federacy, and is the guiding philosophy of the dominant Republican Nationalist Party.

Much of the ideology originated from various colonial reforms before the Cape War of Independence, where the ideas of 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 liberal and 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.

Etymology and origins

Restarkism takes its name from the Cape Coscivian word restarka, meaning federacy or federal republic. It therefore can be translated roughly as republicanism, although in Cape Coscivian the default word for republic, restarka, entails a federal state. Although Kalma himself never called the ideology "restarkism", instead referring to it as the "national-liberation thought" or more commonly the "Four Principles", the name nevertheless took root within colloquial usage.

Restarkism was greatly influenced by Kalma’s time in the Occident, especially in Caphiria and Kiravia. Prior to founding the revolutionary Organization for the Rights of the Peoples of the Cape, he had one principle alone: nationalism. He credits the ideas of Shaftonist democracy, namely athnivirsa (proper order) and uordhiria (edification), as an inspiration for the principle of republicanism, and the republican government of Caphiria as an inspiration for statism. Reformism came to being through a 1867 trip to the Holy Levantine Empire, where he first outlined the need for "governments to constantly reform themselves".

Canon

Much of Restarkism is based on Kalma's seminal work, A Theory on National Revolution, enacted policy, and the Three Speeches, a compilation of speeches Kalma delivered in the final year of his premiership. His landmark works were short, to his wishes, and left open to interpretation by future citizens and leaders of the Cape. Indeed, the authoritarian National Reclamation Government added annexes to all four principles, using them to explicitly reject Kalma's democratic thinking and the communism prevalent on the continent during the Great War. These annexes were later rescinded by subsequent governments.

Yet, the issue of canon is one some historians and policymakers 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."

Principles

There are four fundamental principles to the ideology: nationalism, republicanism (sometimes rendered as political rights), judicialism (sometimes rendered as statism or governance rights), and reformism. These four principles are the sacrosanct core of the ideology and are recognized as unchangeable. Combined, these principles represent a form of 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.

Nationalism

Nationalism in the Restarkist framework is defined as a group of people united through common purpose, an explicit rejection of colonial and indigenous ethnic nationalism. It likewise rejects imperialism, positing that national communities are equal and should be independent from other national communities. To achieve this independence, Kalma believed in the creation of a civic "Cape nationalism" to unite the Coscivians, Cronans and Cartadanians that comprised the country. Restarkist nationalism likewise rejects class conflict, with a "national consciousness" placed first and foremost. A common slogan remains: "there are no proletarians in the Cape, only citizens."

Republicanism (political rights)

Republicanism, sometimes rendered as political rights, is a social revolution to transfer political power and sovereignty to the people and the people alone. It is one of two parts of Restarkist political life, with republicanism being the power of politics and judicialism being the power of governance and the power of the state. Kalma states his inspiration for Restarkist Republicanism in the original Latin res publica, hoping to return politics to a “public affair”.

Sovereignty

Sovereignty belongs to the people alone.

Melvyn Kalma

Popular sovereignty forms the ideological basis for Restarkist republicanism. It states that the power of the state and the republic must be vested in the people alone, rejecting the divine right of kings and instead placing political legitimacy in the people's support. Article 1 of the Cape constitution makes this clear; defining the source of all political power, from which the state derives its authority from, as being vested in the people. Restarkism also rejects any condition or title placed upon a nation, for example, defining a nation as Catholic or socialist.

Structure

Restarkist republicanism outlines a constitutional republic built on the values of democracy, popular sovereignty, civic virtue, and the rule of law. It places specific emphasis on the power of citizen stewardship over the government, therefore leading a representative system where leaders are elected, govern within the limits of a defined constitution, and whose decisions are subject to judicial review.

The Restarkist republic is a parliamentary constitutional republic, with three branches of government and defined seperation of powers. It has a parliament, or National Stanera, chosen by representative elections and therefore regarded as the closest expression of the people's power and will. A popularly-elected non-executive president serves as the symbolic head of state. The president appoints a premier, a Prime Executive, to serve as the head of government and a cabinet to exercise executive powers. The Restarkist republic reserves a special role of oversight for the legislative and judicial branches over the executive branch: the parliament may compel the cabinet to resign through a motion of no-confidence, and the judiciary may overturn the decisions of the executive through judicial review.

Restarkist communities (granted authority as provinces) are likewise given similar stewardship rights as citizens, leading to a federal state where local communities are free to enjoy authority over local affairs and a form of sovereignty from the central government.

Secularism

Restarkist popular sovereignty asserts that sovereignty lies in the people alone, therefore rejecting governance that places sovereignty in or seeks to serve a god. It therefore rejects confessionalism and divine right, and shares more similarity to laïcité than the Occidental liberal definition of secularism.

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 state atheist. It is unopposed to apolitical or moderate religion, but opposed to politicized religious forces against Restarkism's materialism and 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 (governance rights)

Judicialism, sometimes rendered as the power of governance or statism, asserts the rights of the state. This can be defined as creating an "edifice" of the state: although the rights of the state are based off of republicanism's popular sovereignty, popular sovereignty must allow the state to exercise its rights for a state to even exist. In practice, judicialism defines a balance between the political rights of the people and the rights of the state. It gives the state the judicial role of being the arbiter of the people, using the power the people have granted it in all spheres to defend and construct the nation. The Restarkist arbiter-state can therefore be molded by the politics of the nation - but in the same way the state cannot overcome the people's political rights, the state's own rights cannot be overcome or toppled by political rights. Judicialism therefore enshrines the creation of a strong state structure defined by an apolitical civil service, an independent judiciary, a system of checks and balances, a professional military and the enshrinement of the rule of law.

The power of governance also 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 Statutes of the Constitution. It must also prevent the tyranny of the majority, and therefore defend itself and its institutions whenever they are threatened, from without or within. Kalma gave this role to the military, which has invoked it in multiple coups d'état when it perceived that political organizations were undermining the state.

The Restarkist state's power of governance over 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 capitalism, proposing the state use its power of governance defend the people from the conceived ills of capital. The nation’s 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

Reformism in the Restarkist framework is defined as a constant struggle to replace traditional concepts with modern concepts. This principle advocates for constant change. The Restarkist philosophy of reform is based off of historical materialism, with no way to return to the old principles and systems deemed as backwards. It is rigid scientism, presenting it as the only objective means in which the state must determine its actions and policies.

The adaptability put forth by this principle has in effect dictates Restarkism as an "ideology without an ideology". As Kalma put himself: "There is no lofty ideological aim to [Restarkism's reform]. No lofty dream. No final goal, except to serve the Cape readily forevermore." Reformism, therefore, becomes a constant struggle for the ideology to redefine itself to fit the context, aims, material conditions, and goals of the location and time.

Analysis

Restarkism and Cape politics

The Republican Nationalist Party was established by Kalma shortly after the foundation of the Federacy of the Cape in 1871. The Republican Nationalist Party has continued to update and change the philosophical roots and interpretations of Restarkism to fit the time and situation. As an example, it renounced Kalma’s nationalist ideal of neutrality and non-interference during the Great War as the RNP and the Cape aligned itself with anti-communist forces against the Austral Democratic People’s Republic. With this constant adjustment, Restarkism has remained the popular ideology of the centre.

Restarkism outside the Cape

As defined by Kalma, Restarkism is an “ideology created for the material conditions of the Cape, and interpreted considering these material conditions. It is not a universal liberation ideology.” Although he stated that many of the ideology’s principles can be applied to many nations, especially in Crona, he stated that “adaptations would need to be made to suit each national population.”

Nevertheless, Restarkist parties have been a political force across Crona for decades.

Interpretations of Restarkism

Within the Republican Nationalist Party, Restarkism has been interpreted in many different ways. There are three current factions and interpretations:

• Socialist RNs, who take a more socialist interpretation of the principles of reformism and judicialism. Socialists seek to use the statism laid out by judicialism to protect the economic equality of the individual, embracing the use of the state to reform society into a democratic socialist one. Many of the party’s socialist and trade unionist members would be considered socialists.

• Liberal RNs, who take a liberal interpretation of the principles of reformism and judicialism. They seek to use the state to protect individual and economic rights. They interpret judicialism to mean state intervention in the economy only when necessary for the public good, and the further establishment of welfare. They align closely with social democracy, although neoliberalism remains a force in the liberal faction.

• Conservative RNs, who prioritize republicanism and nationalism. They adhere closely to neoconservatism, de-emphasizing the role of the judicialist state in the economy and in politics, and emphasizing nationalism. Many of the party’s liberal conservativess are considered Conservative RNs. The principle of reformism prevents social conservatism in the party.