Many people believe that citizens, and especially citizens in democratic states, have a duty to accept the authority of the law and to support and comply with the institutions of their state. In this module you will examine this assumption in depth, and from various perspectives. You will engage with recent philosophical discussions on the nature of political authority, on the legitimacy of democracy and on the duty to resist state injustices.
The module covers three broad topics:
Political Authority: do states have the right to demand obedience of their citizens? Do citizens have a duty to obey the law? What is the best answer to the ‘anarchist challenge’? What are the relative merits and weaknesses of various accounts of political obligations?
Democracy: Is democracy the only legitimate form of political authority? Should there be limits to the will of the majority in democracies? Does democracy imply states should have no borders?
Resistance: what should democratic citizens do when they find out that their state acts unjustly? Do they have a duty to resist injustice? And what form should this resistance take? May citizens ever resort to violent protest?Teaching Delivery
The lectures will provide a general overview of the material. In the seminars, you will get the opportunity to dive deeply into the topic and to discuss it with your peers. You will be expected to read three articles for each seminar.
This module assumes some background knowledge in political theory, and students are strongly encouraged to have taken two prior modules with a strong focus on normative political theory -- for example, POLS061 Justice and POLS0063 Ethics & Public Policy (both compulsory for PIR), POLS006 Introduction to Politics and PHIL0007 Introduction to Political Philosophy (both compulsory for PPE), or equivalent.
By the end of the module:
• you will have a clear grasp of some of the debates that surround the concepts of political obligation, democratic legitimacy and political resistance.
• You will be able to critically analyse, compare and deploy the main positions presented in these debates.
• You will be able to apply these theoretical debates to questions of public concern.
• You will develop general skills in analysing arguments conceptually and theoretically, in expressing themselves orally and in writing, and in participating in group discussions.Recommended Readings
In preparation for the module, we advise reading one of the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library:
• John Horton Political Obligation
• Dudley Knowles Political Philosophy
• Kit Wellman and John Simmons Is There a Duty to obey the Law? For and Against
• Candice Delmas A Duty to Resist