Brings scholarly attention to the least studied of Spinoza's major works, from a range of different scholarly perspectives.

Introduction Yitzhak Y. Melamed and Hasana Sharp; 1. What is real about 'ideal constitutions'? - Spinoza on political explanation Michael A. Rosenthal; 2. Statesmen vs. philosophers: experience and method in Spinoza's Political Treatise Julie E. Cooper; 3. The condition of human nature: Spinoza's account of the ground of human action in the Tractatus Politicus Moira Gatens; 4. Politically mediated affects: envy in Spinoza's Tractatus Politicus Susan James; 5. Longing (desiderium) for vengeance as the foundation of the commonwealth Chantal Jacquet; 6. Family quarrels and mental harmony: Spinoza's Oikos-Polis analogy Hasana Sharp; 7. Spinoza on national religion Mogens Laerke; 8. Religion and the civil state in the Tractatus Politicus Daniel Garber; 9. Spinoza on aristocratic and democratic government Theo Verbek; 10. When is having too much power harmful? - Spinoza on political luck Yitzhak Y. Melamed; 11. Spinoza and political absolutism Justin Steinberg; 12. The revolutionary foundation of political modernity: Machiavelli, Spinoza, and constituent power Filippo Del Lucchese.