That is not to say that ‘difference’ and
cultural pluralism do not present difficulties
for a ‘civic public’, for they do. But difference and pluralism present difficulties for
all kinds of polities, and republican citizenship at least has the virtue of confronting
them head on by encouraging people to look
for the common ground on which they
stand, despite their differences, as citizens.
In that respect, there is surely something to
be said for the relevance of republican
citizenship.