Rota Club
This aristocratic author had been using English Coffee houses since as early as 1656 to promote his works of republican political philosophy, such as The Commonwealth of Oceana (which was released in 1656), and was well received in these venues.
The English coffeehouse was gaining in popularity at this time as it provided a place of sobriety to stage enlightening conversations and debates.
In the past such assemblies of men had met in taverns, but the introduction of the exotic coffee in England allowed for a different sort of meeting based on moderation and conversation.
[10] This freedom of attendance allowed for the Rota Club no truly fixed membership as there was a free flow of individuals, those who sat in one meeting would not necessarily be there at the next one.
[12] This freedom of attendance and membership did however allow a very large groups of men to meet, filling the Rota Club's room at Miles' Coffeehouse on any given night.
They were antiquarians, authors, members of parliament, Justices of the Peace, military officers, theologians, future New World governors, and aristocrats.
In general they were Harrington's republican disciples and the virtuosi, well educated and attracted to the free flow of ideas and intellectual debate.
Samual Pepys records one debate where he heard "a good argument against Mr. Harrington's assertion that overbalance of propriety was the foundation of government.
Harrington, in using the Rota club to propagate his ideas on government, felt that it was enough to simply allow his philosophy to enter the political debates of the day.
Most of the Rump politicians disliked the voting by ballot idea, and they were even more loath to the rotation of political positions espoused by a Rota or Oceana style government.
[22] What differentiated the Rota Club from other debate societies at this time was that they published their political viewpoints in the last months of the interregnum.
[9] Pepys diary records that on 14 January 1660 he heard a "good argument against Mr. Harrington's assertion that overbalance of propriety was the foundation of government".
There was a person to take the minutes, Harrington himself, a system of membership, and a Chairman, usually occupied by Cyriack Skinner or Sir William Poulteney.
[26] The group of participants would be placed around an oval, sometimes called 'Roman,' table with a passage cut into it for the waiter of the coffeehouse to serve his drinks.
So tomorrow it is to be proved by the opponents..."[29] The cycle of the Rota Club then was sober consideration followed by debate and lastly voting.
[9] This was the system espoused by the Oceana however and the successful application of Harrington's ideas required that this important aspect of his utopian government feature heavily in his Rota Club to publicize it.
[32] The public sphere, as proposed by Jürgen Habermas, operated in the Coffeehouse, a venue of urbanity and commercialism for men to debate matters of interest logically and rationally.
As a debate club centered on a Commonwealth and republican ideals it experienced most of its success when the power of government was solidly with the parliament.
However, with the imminent arrival of King Charles II of England the attendance at the Rota Club's meetings fell off dramatically.
[35] In his Brief Lives, John Aubrey records that when General George Monck entered London in early February 1660 the debate on models of republicanism and Commonwealth ceased.
[20] Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary on 20 February 1660 that "after a small debate upon the Question whether learned or unlearned subjects are the best, the club broke off very poorly, and I do not think they will meet any more.
The secret ballot voting specifically seems to also have made its way into such institutions as the Royal Society, Bank of England, and other clubs following this period.
More generally, the republican views tempered by the Rota debates and remembered by those who participated may have helped form the United States Constitution.
