The Oxford Handbook of Political Obligation

by Klosko, George

• ISBN13: 9780192872265
• ISBN10: 0192872265
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2026-03-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Oxford Handbook of Political Obligation offers an authoritative, up-to-date overview of research in this field. In recent decades, scholars have developed strong criticisms of the traditional reasons given to explain political obligations. At present, skepticism about the possibility of a convincing account may well be the dominant position in the literature. These philosophical developments run alongside changed political and social circumstances. In recent years, Western political systems have come under suspicion, with citizens led to question traditional reasons why they should obey them. Additional factors renewing interest in political obligation include the emergence of new democracies in Eastern Europe occasioned by the fall of the Soviet Union and unrest in many American cities, especially over issues of racial justice. This Handbook has two main foci: contemporary philosophical debates about political obligation; and responses to political-social circumstances that raise questions about requirements to obey the law. Traditional theories of obligation are addressed in a series of essays by well-known authorities, while additional essays canvass new approaches, including the possibility of legitimate states without moral requirements to obey them and skeptical conclusions from important theorists. Responses to political and social circumstances include civil disobedience and more radical approaches. In addition, political obligations are addressed as they bear on emerging democracies and unjust and authoritarian regimes.

Author Biography

George Klosko, Henry L and Grace Doherty Professor of Politics, University of Virginia

George Klosko is Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor of Politics Emeritus at the University of Virginia. His books include The Principle of Fairness and Political Obligation; Political Obligations, and The Oxford Handbook of the History of Political Philosophy, which he edited. He has published more than fifty articles in Political Science, Philosophy, and Classics journals, including Philosophy and Public Affairs, Ethics, the American Political Science Review, Classical Quarterly, and Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophie. He taught at the University of Virginia for forty-one years, and before that at Columbia and Purdue Universities.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, George KloskoCONCEPTUAL MATTERS2. Political Authority, Stephen Perry3. Authority and Legitimacy: The Revisionist View, Matthias Brinkmann4. Normative and Sociological Legitimacy, Allen Buchanan5. Political Obligation and the Nature of the State, Brookes Brown6. Empirical Perspectives on Legal Obligation and Group Membership: We are ruling over you, but you are part of this we, Ben Bradford, Jonathan Jackson7. The Content-Independence of Political Obligation, Laura ValentiniHISTORY8. Political Obligation in Sophocles and Plato, Richard Kraut9. Christian Tradition, Sarah Mortimer10. Social Contract Tradition, Sharon Lloyd11. David Hume and the Virtue of Allegiance, Danielle Charette12. Kant on Political Obligations, Helga Varden13. Gandhi's Theory and Practice of Political Obligation, Dennis Dalton14. Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Alexander LivingstonCONTEMPORARY THEORIES15. Political Obligation: The Last Fifty Years of Philosophical Debate, A. John Simmons16. Taking Freedom for Granted: Consent, Political Obligation, and the Interest in Voluntary Rule, Amanda Green17. The Principle of Fair Play, Richard Dagger18. Natural Duty Accounts of Political Obligation, Christopher Heath Wellman19. Associative Obligations and Political Obligations, Diane Jeske20. Gratitude and Obligations to the State, Tony Manela21. Respect and Political Obligation, Harrison Frye22. Democracy and Political Obligation, Thomas Christiano23. A Pluralist Theory of Political Obligation, Massimo Renzo24. Raz s Service Conception of Authority, Nicole Roughan25. The Joint Commitment Theory of Political Obligation, Margaret Gilbert26. Cognitive Biases and Political Obligation, Noam Gur27. Rethinking Obligation, Rethinking Consent: A Feminist View of Political Obligation, Nancy J. Hirschmann28. Realism and Political Obligations, Matt SleatAPPLICATIONS29. Political Obligation and Injustice, Candace Delmas30. Violent Protests in the Face of Injustice, Ava Pasternak31. Climate Change and Legitimacy, Ross Mittiga32. Moral and Political Obligations in a Pandemic, Alberto Giubilini33. The Political Obligations of Refugees, David Miller34. Political Obligations Toward NGOs, Lucia Rafanelli35. Political Obligation in Unjust States: Poland, Dorota Mokrosinska36. Political Obligation in Electoral Authoritarianism: The Case of Hungary, Zolton Miklosi