Global Political Justice

This course investigates what justice requires in terms of collective decision-making institutions beyond state borders. Should international or transnational political, economic, and military decisions be made more democratically? What would that mean? Would that be objectionably "neo-colonial"? Should institutions be constrained to satisfy principles of national self-determination? Do states have obligations to sacrifice their own interests to support more inclusive transnational decision-making? Or does international conflict make political integration too dangerous? We will explore theoretical frameworks in contemporary political philosophy to address these questions, and study applied problems of global political justice including anti-imperialism, humanitarian intervention, and global constitutionalism.