This is John Batchel, conversation with my good colleague and mentor Gregory Copley.

His new book, The Noble State, Governance Options in an Innoble Era.

Here Gregory describes the transformation of republics from the bright and promising moment

to 300 years ago to what they are today,

bitter and static and unable to project authority, virtue, power, justice.

And what is to be done? Gregory has a recommendation back to the beginning.

Gregory Copley, the noble state governance options in an ignoble era, much on this tonight.

Thank you.

Well, we entered an overwhelming period where republics emerged as an ideal form of government and they became

very popular and monarchies by that stage we're talking about two 300 years ago began to be seen as

tired often corrupt often forgetting that their purpose was to inspire and to be the repositories of goodness,

if you like. And so Republicans became the repository of idealism. And this was very positive

for humanity as a whole. However, like all forms of government, they become tired unless they are

somehow forcibly refreshed. And what's happened in that period when we've seen republics flourish around

the world is that they have gone through their growth period and their idealistic

period and are now largely political battlegrounds and the old monarchies, if they've survived,

have completely reinvented themselves and reinvigorated to get back to the apolitical purpose

of being the repository of the values of the society,

identification with the achievements of the past and the importance of attachment to the land and so on.