Research

Working Papers

I am happy to share working papers upon request.

State Authority and Its Limits (under review)

I show how the existence of deep disagreement among citizens (e.g., about democracy itself) creates issues for influential contemporary accounts of state legitimacy of Kantian and Hobbesian origin. I argue that they cannot consistently impose limits (e.g. justice-based requirements) on state activity. I contend, instead, that the right to coerce arises from the autonomy of citizens to self-organize as they wish (not on the rejection of anarchy, contra Kant and Hobbes).

State Legitimacy and Exit

I show that a typical approach to state legitimacy - premised on maintaining the autonomy of citizens - fails to explain why citizens that dissent from majorities retain autonomy. I argue that the right to coerce dissenters only arises when they have robust exit options (e.g., subsidized emigration). Additionally, I contend that states might have duties to enter multilateral free-movement agreements in order to guarantee the autonomy of their own citizens. This connects my research to existing work on polycentricity.

Further work

In the remaining chapters of my dissertation, I explore how political systems can be stable despite the existence of antidemocratic, or “unreasonable,” citizens. I am interested in how polycentric systems like the above can achieve that goal.