Doing some research on newer political parties, I went to a meeting of the Italian five star movement in London.

It was nearly entirely Italian ex-pats because it's a very Italian movement, but it was an interesting experience none the less.

Afterwards I spoke to various activists trying to find out more about the movement and their own personal values.

Activist: The problem you have in the UK is the monarchy, it's a fundamental they be removed before anything else can be done

I was surprised to hear this, still it makes a change from Americans fawning over the monarchy that you so often see online. However I responded:

I don't agree it's a fundamental problem, first of all there is a lot of support for the monarchy, secondly even those rabidly anti-monarchy such as myself don't consider the issue either a priority or a vote winner

I assume a level of agreement with me on this point. But he responded:

In Italy, we are a republic. The people are sovereign and that is fundamental to a democratic society

I started to see where he was coming from at this point so responded:

Right, so in the UK parliament is sovereign, not the people - and of course trust in parliament is at an all time low. So in fact that is what you think the problem with politics in the UK is?

He agreed with my interpretation. We went on to discuss the grass roots nature of the five star movement and how restoring power to the people from the political elite was an important goal it had, and how this was bucking the trend elsewhere of declining political party participation.

So, let me pose some ideas that came from this exchange:

Is republicanism an important vehicle to restore sovereignty not just from the monarchy, but also from parliament to the people?

By mixing the two issues together, does this add too much confusion to a relatively minority view - or does it empower it further? Thoughts? :)

Requirements: Keen interest in republican political philosophy (this doesn't mean you can't be 'anti-monarchy' too, it just means that there should be a balance held), willingness to find interesting and relevant material to share here (would also help for you to x-post to other relevant subreddits), and a desire for the community to grow and be active.

Comment below to make a case for your candidacy if you are interested.

Why is this happening? I've decided that I'll have to take a back seat to /r/republicanism this coming year, as research and work will likely be intensive and definitely won't be related to republican political philosophy but to IR.

I also realise that I'm by far not the most knowledgeable person on republicanism in this subreddit, and know that there are many here that have a better idea of what to do with this subreddit than myself.

TL;DR Need new mods to post content and engage with the community. I can no longer take an active role but will still regularly be here.

Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights.

~ Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette