Political obligation
Concept · Politics, stage 1: Learn the vocabulary
Political obligation is the question of whether, and why, you are morally required to obey the law of the state you happen to live under. The grounds usually proposed are consent, fair play towards others who bear the burdens of cooperation, gratitude for benefits received, a natural duty to support just institutions, and duties owed to a community you belong to. A substantial body of work argues that none of these succeeds for everyone, a position known as philosophical anarchism, which denies a general duty to obey without necessarily calling for the abolition of the state.
Why it matters
Every claim about what a state may demand of you rests on the answer, and none of the standard answers is uncontested.
Part of
Political obligation in the glossary
Sources
- Political Obligation Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Political obligation Wikipedia
