Legitimacy

Legitimacy PDF Author: Arthur Isak Applbaum
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674241932
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
At an unsettled time for liberal democracy, with global eruptions of authoritarian and arbitrary rule, here is one of the first full-fledged philosophical accounts of what makes governments legitimate. What makes a government legitimate? The dominant view is that public officials have the right to rule us, even if they are unfair or unfit, as long as they gain power through procedures traceable to the consent of the governed. In this rigorous and timely study, Arthur Isak Applbaum argues that adherence to procedure is not enough: even a properly chosen government does not rule legitimately if it fails to protect basic rights, to treat its citizens as political equals, or to act coherently. How are we to reconcile every person’s entitlement to freedom with the necessity of coercive law? Applbaum’s answer is that a government legitimately governs its citizens only if the government is a free group agent constituted by free citizens. To be a such a group agent, a government must uphold three principles. The liberty principle, requiring that the basic rights of citizens be secured, is necessary to protect against inhumanity, a tyranny in practice. The equality principle, requiring that citizens have equal say in selecting who governs, is necessary to protect against despotism, a tyranny in title. The agency principle, requiring that a government’s actions reflect its decisions and its decisions reflect its reasons, is necessary to protect against wantonism, a tyranny of unreason. Today, Applbaum writes, the greatest threat to the established democracies is neither inhumanity nor despotism but wantonism, the domination of citizens by incoherent, inconstant, and incontinent rulers. A government that cannot govern itself cannot legitimately govern others.

Legitimacy

Legitimacy PDF Author: Arthur Isak Applbaum
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674241932
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
At an unsettled time for liberal democracy, with global eruptions of authoritarian and arbitrary rule, here is one of the first full-fledged philosophical accounts of what makes governments legitimate. What makes a government legitimate? The dominant view is that public officials have the right to rule us, even if they are unfair or unfit, as long as they gain power through procedures traceable to the consent of the governed. In this rigorous and timely study, Arthur Isak Applbaum argues that adherence to procedure is not enough: even a properly chosen government does not rule legitimately if it fails to protect basic rights, to treat its citizens as political equals, or to act coherently. How are we to reconcile every person’s entitlement to freedom with the necessity of coercive law? Applbaum’s answer is that a government legitimately governs its citizens only if the government is a free group agent constituted by free citizens. To be a such a group agent, a government must uphold three principles. The liberty principle, requiring that the basic rights of citizens be secured, is necessary to protect against inhumanity, a tyranny in practice. The equality principle, requiring that citizens have equal say in selecting who governs, is necessary to protect against despotism, a tyranny in title. The agency principle, requiring that a government’s actions reflect its decisions and its decisions reflect its reasons, is necessary to protect against wantonism, a tyranny of unreason. Today, Applbaum writes, the greatest threat to the established democracies is neither inhumanity nor despotism but wantonism, the domination of citizens by incoherent, inconstant, and incontinent rulers. A government that cannot govern itself cannot legitimately govern others.

Who Controls the Internet?

Who Controls the Internet? PDF Author: Jack Goldsmith
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198034806
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Is the Internet erasing national borders? Will the future of the Net be set by Internet engineers, rogue programmers, the United Nations, or powerful countries? Who's really in control of what's happening on the Net? In this provocative new book, Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu tell the fascinating story of the Internet's challenge to governmental rule in the 1990s, and the ensuing battles with governments around the world. It's a book about the fate of one idea--that the Internet might liberate us forever from government, borders, and even our physical selves. We learn of Google's struggles with the French government and Yahoo's capitulation to the Chinese regime; of how the European Union sets privacy standards on the Net for the entire world; and of eBay's struggles with fraud and how it slowly learned to trust the FBI. In a decade of events the original vision is uprooted, as governments time and time again assert their power to direct the future of the Internet. The destiny of the Internet over the next decades, argue Goldsmith and Wu, will reflect the interests of powerful nations and the conflicts within and between them. While acknowledging the many attractions of the earliest visions of the Internet, the authors describe the new order, and speaking to both its surprising virtues and unavoidable vices. Far from destroying the Internet, the experience of the last decade has lead to a quiet rediscovery of some of the oldest functions and justifications for territorial government. While territorial governments have unavoidable problems, it has proven hard to replace what legitimacy governments have, and harder yet to replace the system of rule of law that controls the unchecked evils of anarchy. While the Net will change some of the ways that territorial states govern, it will not diminish the oldest and most fundamental roles of government and challenges of governance. Well written and filled with fascinating examples, including colorful portraits of many key players in Internet history, this is a work that is bound to stir heated debate in the cyberspace community.

The Problem of Political Authority

The Problem of Political Authority PDF Author: Michael Huemer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137281669
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
The state is often ascribed a special sort of authority, one that obliges citizens to obey its commands and entitles the state to enforce those commands through threats of violence. This book argues that this notion is a moral illusion: no one has ever possessed that sort of authority.

Illusions of Democracy

Illusions of Democracy PDF Author: Sophie Lemière
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
ISBN: 9048542669
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
Bringing together a group of both international and Malaysian scholars, this book offers an up-to-date and broad analysis of the contemporary state of Malaysian politics and society. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, it offers a look at Malaysian politics not only through the lens of political science but also anthropology, cultural studies, international relations, political economy and legal studies touching on both overlooked topics in Malaysian political life as well as the emerging trends which will shape Malaysia's future. Covering silat martial arts, Malaysia's constitutional identity, emergency legislation, the South China Sea dilemma, ISIS discourse, zakat payment, the fallout from the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia's green movement, Illusions of Democracy charts the complex and multi-faceted nature of political life in a semi-authoritarian state, breaking down the illusions which keep it functioning, to uncover the mechanisms which really underlie the paradoxical longevity of Malaysia's political, economic and social system.

Is Political Authority an Illusion?

Is Political Authority an Illusion? PDF Author: Michael Huemer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000456404
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
What gives some people the right to issue commands to everyone else and force everyone else to obey them? And why should people obey the commands of those with political power? These two key questions are the heart of the issue of political authority, and, in this volume, two philosophers debate the answers. Michael Huemer argues that political authority is an illusion and that no one is entitled to rule over anyone. He discusses and rebuts the major theories supporting political authority’s rightfulness: implicit social contract theory, hypothetical contract theories, democratic theories of authority, and utilitarian theories. Daniel Layman argues that democratic governments have authority because they are needed to protect our rights and because they are accountable to the people. Each author writes two replies directly addressing the arguments and ideas of the other. Key Features Covers a key foundational problem of political philosophy: the authority of government. Debate format ensures a full hearing of both sides. A Glossary includes key concepts in political philosophy related to the issue of authority. Annotated Further Reading sections point students to additional resources. Clear, concrete examples and arguments help students clearly see both sides of the argument. A Foreword by Matt Zwolinski describes a broader context for political authority and then traces the key points and turns in the authors’ debate.

History and Illusion in Politics

History and Illusion in Politics PDF Author: Raymond Geuss
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521000437
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
The distinguished political philosopher Raymond Geuss examines critically the central topics in Western political thought. In a series of analytic chapters he discusses the state, authority, violence and coercion, the concept of legitmacy, liberalism, toleration, freedom, democracy, and human rights. He argues that the liberal democratic state committed to the defense of human rights is in fact a confused conjunction of disparate elements. This is a profound and concise essay on the basic structure of contemporary politics, written throughout in voice that is skeptical, engaged, and clear.

Myths, Illusions, and Peace

Myths, Illusions, and Peace PDF Author: Dennis Ross
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101081872
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
"A trenchant and often pugnacious demolition of the numerous misconceptions about strategic thinking on the Middle East" -The New York Times Now updated with a new chapter on the current climate, Myths, Illusions, and Peace addresses why the United States has consistently failed to achieve its strategic goals in the Middle East. According to Dennis Ross-special advisor to President Obama and senior director at the National Security Council for that region-and policy analyst David Makovsky, it is because we have repeatedly fallen prey to dangerous myths about this part of the world-myths with roots that reach back decades yet persist today. Clearly articulated and accessible, Myths, Illusions, and Peace captures the real­ity of the problems in the Middle East like no book has before. It presents a concise and far-reaching set of principles that will help America set an effective course of action in the region, and in so doing secure a safer future for all Americans.

Legitimation of Belief

Legitimation of Belief PDF Author: Ernest Gellner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521204675
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
"The main aim of this thoughtful and thought-provoking book is to characterize and explain the difference between pre-scientific systems of belief within which science could, and did, emerge and develop. Using the armoury of both philosophy and anthropology, Ernest Gellner attacks his task with his customary sharp wit and polemical gusto." - Times Literary Supplement.

Europe Without Illusions

Europe Without Illusions PDF Author: Andrew Moravcsik
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761831280
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Table of Contents Europe Without Illusions : The Paul-Henri Spaak Lectures, 1994-1999 by Moravcsik, Andrew Terms of Use Weatherhead Center for International Affairs: Executive Committee, 2003-2004 p. vii The Paul-Henri Spaak Lectures-1994-1999 p. x Foreword Jorge I. Dominguez p. xi Preface Frank Boas p. xiv Part I Editor's Introduction Europe without Illusions Andrew Moravcsik p. 3 Part II The Paul-Henri Spaak Lectures, 1994-1999 1 The Disappointing Partnership between British Governments and Europe: Why the Paul-Henri Spaak Tradition Rarely Embraces London Right Honorable Lord Roy Jenkins p. 47 2 The Global Challenge: Opportunities and Choices in the Multilateral Trading System Ambassador Renato Ruggiero p. 61 3 From Europe to EUrope: A Story of Hope, Trial and Error Ralf Dahrendorf p. 77 4 The New Europe: How to Overcome Forty Years of Division Uffe Ellemann-Jensen p. 91 5 Europe and the Balkans: The Role of Greece George Papandreou p. 103 Part III Conference Proceedings 6 Transatlantic Relations One Year after September 11 p. 121 Conference Participants p. 191 Descriptive content provided by Syndetics"! a Bowker service. Summary Europe Without Illusions : The Paul-Henri Spaak Lectures, 1994-1999 by Moravcsik, Andrew Terms of use Co-published with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, this critical assessment of European Union developments since 1994 combines the texts of five lectures presented at Harvard, an analysis of the EU by Moravcsik (politics, EU program, Princeton) and the proceedings of the 2002 Harvard-Spaack Lecture Conference. Moravcsik's introductory paper, "Europe Without Illusions," reflects the clear-sighted approach taken by the lectures, which discuss the partnership between British governments and Europe, multilateral trading, trial and error in the EU, overcoming divisions, and the role of Greece in the Balkans. The text lacks an index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Descriptive content provided by Syndetics"! a Bowker service.

On Legitimacy in Global Governance

On Legitimacy in Global Governance PDF Author: Sören Hilbrich
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031541251
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description