Political Obligation Research Articles

Reciprocity and the Rule of Law

ABSTRACT Fair-play theories of political obligation hold that persons have a duty to obey the law based on the fact that they benefit from the law and have a duty of reciprocity to comply in return. These accounts are vulnerable to the open-ended reciprocity challenge, according to which persons have discretion over how they discharge debts of reciprocity, such that they may discharge the debts they incur from being members of society in ways other than compliance with the law. I defend fair-play theories against this challenge by arguing that the principle of reciprocity shares a ground with the principle of public equality, and that the latter ultimately requires that legal institutions be arranged in such a way that persons may not exercise discretion over how they discharge the debts of reciprocity that they incur from others’ compliance with the law.

Population curation: The construction of mutual obligation between individual and state in Danish precision medicine.

How do precision medicine initiatives (re)organize relations between individuals and populations? In this article, we investigate how the curation of national genomic populations enacts communities and, in so doing, constructs mutual obligation between individuals and the state. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the Danish National Genome Center (DNGC), we show how members of advisory bodies negotiated the inclusion criteria for two different genomic populations: a patient genome population and an envisioned 'Danish' reference genome population. The patient genome population was curated through a politics of inclusion, of as many genomes as possible, whereas the reference genome was to be curated through a politics of exclusion, to include only the genomes of 'ethnic' Danes. These two data populations configure differently the community of 'Danish patients' who might benefit from precision medicine, and thereby prescribe different moral continuities between person, state, and territory. We argue that the DNGC's patient genome population reinforces reciprocal relations of obligations and responsibility between the Danish welfare state and all individuals, while the proposed Danish reference genome population privileges the state's commitment to individuals with biographical-territorial belonging to the nation-state. Drawing on scholarship on social and health citizenship, as well as data solidarity in the Nordics, the discussion shows how population curation in national precision medicine initiatives might both construct and stratify political obligation. Whereas STS scholarship has previously deconstructed the concept of 'population', in the context of the troubling and violent effects of the management of human populations, we point to the importance of population curation as a vehicle for making the individual legible as part of a community to which the state is responsible and for which it is committed to care.

Political Obligations and Respect for Social Norms

Political Obligations and Respect for Social Norms

Political Obligation and Self-Sufficiency in Leonardo Bruni's History of the Florentine People

Abstract Leonardo Bruni (1377–1444), chancellor of Florence, is today more famous as an initiator of civic humanism and a proponent of early modern republicanism than as a historian of medieval Florence. He owes this position most of all to Hans Baron, who argued that Florentine civic humanism—an exemplary mode of communal existence dedicated to the active life—as found particularly in Bruni's writings, stemmed from the resurgence of interest in antiquity, which pointed forward to a liberating, civilizing, and progressive modernity. Though James Hankins has recently argued that the dual theses of civic humanism and republicanism are mischaracterizations of the larger thrust of Italian Renaissance political thought, the scholarly literature overwhelmingly portrays Leonardo Bruni as incipiently modern and, by definition, un-medieval. But in emphasizing the role of antiquity in Bruni's “modern” thought, scholars have overlooked the importance of medieval history in the formulation and the content of Bruni's arguments. This article seeks to rectify this misappreciation by demonstrating how that quintessential medieval struggle, the conflict between popes and emperors, plays a central role in Bruni's political thought as it is found in the History of the Florentine People, written from 1415/16 to 1444.

Psychiatry on fire: Climate change and the role of mental healthcare

IntroductionWhat is the psychiatrist’s role on a burning planet? As our world faces the existential ramifications of irreversible climate change, clinicians are contending with what purpose a normalizing institution like psychiatry can have in increasingly abnormal times.Objectives This presentation investigates the role of the modern mental health clinician by examining psychiatry’s current impotence in the face of climate crisis. It will be shown that current approaches are often complicit in psychiatry’s historical depoliticization of mental health and subsequent individualization of social concerns. It will be argued that the only way psychiatry can maintain its ethical obligations to its patients is by taking a courageous sociopolitical stance.MethodsEmerging from a multidisciplinary literature review on the relationship between psychiatry and social crises, this work examines our field’s response to climate change in particular. A focus is made on literature that explores psychiatry’s political obligations, current trends in climate psychiatry, and proposed social psychiatric approaches to the climate crisis.ResultsIt is shown that while ecological collapse tangibly affects our patients, psychiatry often fails to engage socio-politically with the crisis’ root causes. Framing intense reactions to climate change as trauma responses and developing neo-diagnoses such as “ecoanxiety” both risk individualizing inherently social experiences. However, Psychiatrists are also uniquely positioned to speak with authority about social crises and to articulate what a more comprehensive medical response to climate change might look like.ConclusionsGiven climate change’s disproportionate effects on disenfranchised populations, it is increasingly clear that health is inextricable from social circumstances. As a result, political inaction is incompatible with our ethical duty to serve patients’ health, both in the clinic and beyond it.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

A Common Good-Based Justification for Non-Compliance with the Political Obligation of Homeland Defence

Non-compliance with compulsory military service as a form of homeland defence (i.e. conscription) is typically justified by various types of conscientious objections. However, in this article, I offer an alternative type of justification that is based on the common good. To achieve this, I present the concept of the common good and its relationship to the political obligation of homeland defence from the perspective of different traditions of political thought. Subsequently, I outline two types of exceptions to this political obligation: the liberal type of exceptions and the membership-based ones.

Out of time: The experience of contrasting temporal frameworks in participatory art

Abstract Participatory art turns the artwork into a process of engagement and co-creation, and it thus involves forms of time-based coordination that influence the experience of creating participatory art. In this paper I argue that participatory art is underscored by two contrasting temporal frameworks. One is the framework of long-term durational approaches that have been internalized among artists as an ethical and political obligation toward participants; the other is the short-term temporary framework that typically comes with project funding and steers the project toward delivery of target outcomes. To show the tensions to which these contrasting temporal frameworks can give rise, I analyze the development of a participatory art project in Copenhagen’s South Harbor. Specifically, the analysis emphasizes how tensions arose in respect to delimitations of project aspects such as who constitutes the creative team, what is the task before us, and what is our expected contribution to the community. By emphasizing the tensions arising from contrasting temporal frameworks, the article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the experience of creating participatory art, and to problematizing the question of time for participatory art.

Out of time: The experience of contrasting temporal frameworks in participatory art

Abstract Participatory art turns the artwork into a process of engagement and co-creation, and it thus involves forms of time-based coordination that influence the experience of creating participatory art. In this paper I argue that participatory art is underscored by two contrasting temporal frameworks. One is the framework of long-term durational approaches that have been internalized among artists as an ethical and political obligation toward participants; the other is the short-term temporary framework that typically comes with project funding and steers the project toward delivery of target outcomes. To show the tensions to which these contrasting temporal frameworks can give rise, I analyze the development of a participatory art project in Copenhagen’s South Harbor. Specifically, the analysis emphasizes how tensions arose in respect to delimitations of project aspects such as who constitutes the creative team, what is the task before us, and what is our expected contribution to the community. By emphasizing the tensions arising from contrasting temporal frameworks, the article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the experience of creating participatory art, and to problematizing the question of time for participatory art.

The Disposition of Christians to Political Governance in Nigeria in Relation to Romans 12:14 - 13:10

There have been controversies about Christians’ disposition towards political leadership or civil authorities. The Apostle Paul (Romans 12:14-13:1-10) instructs Christians to submit to political authorities; given that certain Christians had shunned all restraint because of their heavenly calling and lost respect for earthly authorities. The burden of this study is the appropriate attitude required from adherents of Christianity towards unfair, ungodly, and despotic leaders. Christians are facing high-level of opposition and marginalization in Nigeria especially in recent times. For instance, most scholars usually treat Romans 13:1-10 thus neglecting Romans 12:14-21. Whereas Romans 12:14-21 is the preceding part of Romans 13:1-10. Therefore, the study employed a historical-critical reading of Romans 12:14-13:10 as a composite unit and its applicability to Christians’ socio-political responsibilities in Nigeria. Primary data is elicited from the Bible with the aid of exegetical tools, while secondary data were sourced from works referencing the selected biblical text and on political governance in Nigeria. Data was content-analysed within the ambit of a phenomenological approach whereby attention is placed on Christians’ disposition towards political leaders and civil authorities. Political obligation theory has been found appropriate and deployed for this study. Hence, the paper recommends that Christians should avoid contemptuous or indifferent disposition to civil authorities and political leaders. Christians occupying political offices should enliven their Christian virtues amidst persecution and repression.

The Boundary Problem Reconsidered

In recent years, political philosophers have devoted growing attention to the questions of political obligation. The debate mainly centers on the question “Is there a moral duty to obey the law?” Political obligation refers to a moral obligation to obey the laws of one’s state, and therefore the question may also be “Do we have political obligations?” At present, there are various theories offered to respond to this question, though none arereceiving widespread consensus. In this paper, I am going to answer the question “Is there a moral duty to obey the law?” I will defend functionalist theories of political obligation against two well-known objections: the problem of unilateral annexation and the problem of historical injustice. In Section 1, I will explain what functionalism is. In Section 2, I will explain the main objections against it. In Section 3, I will undermine these objections by showing them to depend on untrustworthy intuitions. In contrast, I will show that the case for functionalism can be made without relying on similarly untrustworthy intuitions. Section 4 is the conclusion.

Explicating the conception of political obligation embedded in Martin Heidegger’s early treatises

ABSTRACT The concept of political obligation has not attracted much attention within Heideggerian scholarship. In this paper, we identify and explicate Heidegger’s conception of political obligation embedded in his pre-Kehre works. It will be argued that Heidegger’s magnum opus Being and Time and his address as Rector of Freiburg contain a latent associative account of political obligation. We argue that the ontological framework disclosed in Being and Time and the more concrete policy prescriptions of the Rectoral Address reveal a communitarian ethos which animates the early Heideggerian canon and grounds his account of political obligation. For Heidegger, Dasein must be connected to a particular community’s ontological heritage in order to delimit its ontical possibilities in concrete situations. It will be argued that this relationship between ontological heritage and ontical possibilities is what defines political obligation for Heidegger.

Toward a universalistic theory of political obligation: A post-structuralist approach

Developing a plausible theory of political obligation is crucial for understanding our current political lives or constructing new ones. However, it proved to be hard to arrive at a theory that is universalistic and logically consistent. Without adherence to certain universalistic principles, such as freedom and equality, one might be tempted to justify individuals’ allegiance to authoritarian regimes based on particularistic reasons. Also, one may argue that if a general theory of political obligation cannot be devised, we are justified to resort to anarchism. Despite such high political stakes involved, a contention arose that universalistic approaches to political obligation are logically inconsistent because they run afoul of a particularity requirement. The latter is a demand that any plausible theory of individuals’ obligations toward a political entity should account for the reasons why they should obey the rules and orders of a specific authority. In this article, drawing on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s post-structuralist theory, I demonstrate that the dichotomy of universalism vs. particularism need not have destructive effects for a successful theory of political obligation. Indeed, it is possible to accept a particularity requirement but at the same time, argue that political obligations have a universalistic thrust.

OBRIGAÇÃO POLÍTICA, DESOBEDIÊNCIA CIVIL E RESISTÊNCIA NO REGIME DEMOCRÁTICO: A NOÇÃO DE ESTADO DE ALESSANDRO PASSERIN D’ENTRÈVES

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role that the notion of political obligation has in the thought of the Italian philosopher of politics and law Alessandro Passerin d’Entrèves (1902 - 1985), especially in its relationship with the democratic regime and forms of resistance on the part of citizens. By analyzing the author’s main arguments in this regard, it seeks to demonstrate the flexibility of the author’s concept of State, and the importance of philosophy as a point of intersection between morality and law, constituting itself as an instrument of phenomenological approach to the forms of human association.

Children's right to play in times of war

AbstractThis paper discusses children's right to play and its bioethical importance for children affected by war. Against the background of the current military conflicts, it analyses physical, psychological, and institutional factors that limit children's right to play in a situation involving armed conflict. Considering that the lack of institutional support of play for children affected by war constitutes a failure to fulfil our societal and political obligation under Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this paper analyses the understanding of play adopted in this legal instrument. In line with the distinctions made in the Convention, it discusses the importance of play for children's life and survival, for their health and well‐being, as well as for the recovery of trauma experienced by children affected by armed conflict. It thereby aims to contribute to the recognition and protection of this right on the grounds of bioethics and healthcare.

On the Pluralist Critique of Authority

Abstract The moral problem of authority can be expressed as follows: how can authority, and the deference it entails, be compatible with freedom and rationality? The pluralist approach separates political obligation from authority. For pluralists, authority is both unjustifiable and unnecessary, and so legitimate political obligation, including the duty to obey the law, does not entail deference. I argue that it is possible to retain the pluralist commitment to plural grounds of legitimacy, while rebutting the pluralist objections to authority. As a result, whenever authority does have legitimacy, the moral question of authority will demand an answer.

Responsible citizens of responsible states

ABSTRACT Avia Pasternak’s book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of citizen responsibility for historical wrongs. This review nevertheless offers some scepticism about resting citizen liability exclusively on the idea of intentional participation. It argues that the necessity of the state possessing continuing legal responsibility over time is so intrinsic to the function of statehood that the question of citizen liability should be seen as part of the general theory of political obligation. So seen, fair play duties provide a more plausible general ground for citizen liability, even when adapted to unjust regimes. The model of intentional participation may by contrast harbour a muted connection between the ideas of blameworthiness and responsibility that the book in the main wishes to deny. And the practical problems of resting responsibility on intentional participation alone are substantial. Pasternak’s major contribution, untouched by this critique, is to explain how the special obligations undertaken by intentional citizenship strengthen and extend beyond that more foundational duty of responsible citizens.

Legality without Liberalism: The Rule of Law and the Environmental Emergency

The rule of law is often said to be a liberal ideal, intrinsically associated with the enlightenment and, being necessary for each, supplying the link between liberalism and constitutionalism. In this paper, that idea is challenged. The rule of law, even in its most “formal” conception embraced by Lon Fuller, cannot be severed from an account of law which is thoroughly infused with moral purpose and value. The specific values which inform this principle are often portrayed as confined to action guidance, restraint of state power, and the protection of individual rights. Framed as such, the rule of law often conflicts with the moral and political obligation of political authority to preserve the conditions necessary for the community to survive and flourish. An alternative conception of the rule of law, rooted in the classical legal tradition, sees no conflict here and can thus provide the intellectual framework needed to explain how inaction on behalf of public authority can be as much of a threat to the rule of law as abusive action. With this in mind, the duty upon the state to respond to threats such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic is itself best understood as one arising from the requirements of legality. Analysis of state action or inaction in the face of such threats must thus begin with this duty in mind as a constitutive aspect of the rule of law. The threats posed by the environmental emergency are best viewed by reference to the communal underpinnings of the rule of law. The liberal desire to frame all moral issues in the language of individual rights should therefore be resisted. The framework of an individual right to a liveable climate may be the best way for liberal constitutionalism to frame the climate crises, but it is by no means the only way. Indeed, it is a manifestly impoverished attempt to concretise what can only be understood as a threat to the common good itself, grounded within the needs of the global community as a whole.

What matter matters as a matter of justice?

ABSTRACT With planet-wide environmental unravelling ideas of multispecies and planetary justice are gaining multidisciplinary attention. They frame a set of ethical, moral and political obligations to life-on-Earth. While it is clear it is humans who bear the duties and obligations of justice, who or what is the subject of justice-beyond-human varies widely: Some limit the subject to sentient animals, others include all living things. We argue for a more expansive subject that includes both living and non-living matter. We claim that privileging living/life is an anthropocentric categorisation embedded in the foundational epistemologies and ontologies driving environmental damages, resource conflicts and mass extinction. An exclusion of matter from concerns of justice ignores multiple fundamental more-than-human relationships in humans’ every-day material lives. We argue that the subject of planetary justice must be expansive – addressing sentient or not, living or not, animal, vegetable, mineral, and elemental – to be inclusive, applied, plural, and sustainable.

The Justice Argument Against Catholic Integralism

Catholic integralism claims that governments must secure the earthly and heavenly common good. God authorizes two powers to do so. The state governs in matters temporal, the Catholic Church in matters spiritual. Since the church has the nobler end of salvation, it may direct the state to help enforce church law. The integralist adopts two seemingly conflicting norms of justice: (a) coercion into the faith is always unjust, but (b) coercion to keep the faith is just. But if religious coercion is wrong at the start of the Christian life, why is it permitted after that? The integralist answer is baptism. Baptism serves as a normative transformer: it transforms religious coercion from unjust to just. My thesis is that baptism fails as a normative transformer. I critique Thomas Aquinas’ approach to this question and then adapt gratitude, associative, and natural duty theories of political obligation to repair his argument. These strategies fail.

THE CRISIS OF LEGITIMACY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW ОF THE FUNNEL OF CAUSALITY

The problem of legitimacy of political institutions and institutions of state power is considered. Various approaches to determining the legitimacy of government are analyzed, but the main emphasis is on the level of trust and what exactly reduces the level of trust in government institutions Emphasis is placed on the factors that affect the fall of trust and lead to crisis phenomena in the political environment and destabilize society in general. The points of view of M. Weber, R. Dworkin and A. Buchann on legitimacy are compared, which give rise to different views on political obligations and normative conditions. A crisis of legitimacy is a situation in which the legality of the existing social order is questioned and distrust of the existing government is openly expressed, which demonstrates the inability of the government to assure society of the necessity and optimal functioning of existing state institutions. The reasons for the delegitimization of power are determined (the lack of proper representation of the interests of social groups and sufficient vertical mobility in the political system in combination with social inequality), which ultimately lead to the radicalization of attitudes in society, the strengthening of the opposition and, in general, distrust of state institutions The methodology of the “Funnel of Causality allows to combine different levels of society and take into account the effects of the environment. First of all, the macro level (economic development, the influence of geopolitical actors, historical traditions,national mewntality etc.), radical economic changes, the development of civil society, the political activity of various social groups, the growth of crisis phenomena, as a result of radical transformation. Due to the fluctuating nature of the country's political development during the years of independence, revolutionary situations arose, and the very legitimacy of the government, even at the macro level, was called into question.