VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

For most of the city-states, a feeling of freedom brought by the Renaissance prompteda departure from patrimonial governments and ecclesiastical control. The formation ofpolitical institutions greatly improved during the Renaissance period. It is appropriateto say that political institutions became more effective during the renaissance period.The process of participative rule had already started in the closing years of the 11 thcentury, with the formation of an Executive of Citizens, referred to as “law-worthymen - boni homines” (Waley 1969:32), who represented the community. When theboni homines became a permanent institution, it evolved into a commune.Gradually the commune replaced the episcopal authority (hitherto in the hands of theBishop on behalf of the Pope), as the most important jurisdictional power in the citystate.One became a citizen of the commune by having residential status in thecommune or buying citizenship at a regulated value of 100 Lire. Later the right tocitizenship came by birth. Strictness regarding admission to citizenship varied fromone city-state to another, but most of them ruled against persons with criminal recordsentering their city-state. Membership, allowed one the right to vote, participation inthe commercial life of the city, security of one’s person and property.The commune also regulated relationships with other communes in the republic andother city-states outside the republic on behalf of its citizens. This politicalorganisation called for the establishment of other government institutions such as theadministration, the military, and the diplomatic departments. This process of formingnew institutions gave momentum to the city-states and provided a sense of patriotismto the citizens. However, a real sense of nationalism did not develop until much laterand then not as a result of institutional development but rather out of conflict andforeign invasions. Italy reached the fruition of her nationalism when all the city-statespursued unification in the 18 th century (cf Waley 1969:32-68).Bureaucracy and diplomacy separated matters of public office and private life.Committee-meeting procedures and taking of minutes were established. The practiceof state budgeting was introduced, including the discipline of collecting, storing, andretrieval of information regarding the knowledge of expenditure and income on anannual basis. Demarcations in office responsibility and fixed salaries led to greaterefficiency of what would then be referred to as “the Renaissance state” (cf Helm46