Abstract
One of the key terms in the enormous Politica Methodice Digesta, Atque Exemplis Sacris et Profanis Illustrata of Johannes Althusius (1557–1638) is consociatio. This word has been translated into English a number of different ways by Althusius interpreters. This article contends that these renderings have proven confusing and unhelpful and that a better approach to this key concept is needed. It offers a brief appraisal of the received translations of consociatio in Althusius scholarship before providing a fresh interpretation which, it is hoped, will go some way to alleviating the extant confusion about Althusius’s political ideas.