LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM IN THE WRITINGS OF AUREL C. POPOVICI
LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM IN THE WRITINGS OF AUREL C. POPOVICI

Summary/Abstract: In our study we wanted to analyze how the Romanian political activist and ideologist Aurel C. Popovici (1863-1917) perceived liberalism and conservatism, two of the most important ideologies of the nineteenth century. For this purpose, we studied three of his main writings: Principiul de naţionalitate (The Nationality Principle), Statele Unite ale Austriei Mari (The United States of Great Austria) and Naţionalism sau democraţie: o critică a civilizaţiunii moderne (Nationalism or Democracy: a Critical Approach to Modern Civilization). We studied the way in which the renowned Banatian author perceived liberalism, but also the way he percieved several main principles of this ideology: the defense of liberty, the sovereignty of the people, representative government, the refusal of absolutism and pluralism. By analyzing these topics in Aurel C. Popovici’s writings, we identified several paradoxes of his thinking, which we tried to explain by appealing to other sources, like personal letters or memoirs belonging to friends or admirers.

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