Abstract
Global political organization in recent centuries has been dominated by the juridical model of the international states system. Originating in early modern Europe, this distinctive way of structuring political authority has progressively extended its reach to the point where, today, the inhabitable land surfaces of the world are entirely divided up among sovereign states. I will argue that we have both practical and moral reasons to move away from this form of political organization. While my immediate target will be the ideal states system that John Rawls proposes in The Law of Peoples,J. Rawls, THE LAWOF PEOPLES (1999); hereafter “LP.” the main conclusions defended here are applicable to a range of possible models that can be characterized as states-system models. Theories in this range may depart in various ways from current international law but all are marked by the claim that legal-political authority should be concentrated in exclusive or nearly exclusive territorial jurisdictions regarded as equal and independent political units.
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