Po301 issues in political theory Study guides, Class notes & Summaries

Full lecture notes for the module Issue in Political Theory. Topics covered: - Rawls and Nozick - Cohen and Dworkin - Equality and sufficiency - Desert and liberty - Democracy and legitimacy - Meritocracy - Education - Environmental justice - Gender justice - Immigration - Assimilation and cultural diversity - Political obligation - Non-human animals and animal rights

Revision notes on Legitimacy and Democracy in Political Theory. Topics covered: - Legitimacy - Democracy - Authority - Intrinsic and instrumental view of democracy - Procedural democracy - Democratic equality - Social choice theory - Epistocracy - Publicity and representation - Judicial review - Rational proceduralism

Revision notes on Political Obligation and Consent in political theory. Topics covered: - Political obligation - Consent - Morality - Tacit consent - Coercion - Hypothetical consent - Utilitarianism - Normative consent - Gratitude and fairness - Philosophical anarchism

This essay argues that a liberal democratic state in a bordered world does not have the right to prevent would-be immigrants from entering it. Part One rejects three arguments put forward in justification of a right to exclude when accounting for the moral arbitrariness of being born within a state, and the historical injustices implicit therein. First, Blake and Miller’s theory of exclusion on the basis of national obligations; second, Wellman’s self-determination argument; and third, Pevni...

Revision notes on Environmental Justice in Political Theory. Topics covered: - Distributive justice - Anthropocentrism - Zoocentrism - Biocentrism - Atomistic eco-centrism - Climate change - Intergenerational justice - Carbon emissions and burden-sharing - Polluter Pays Principle - Beneficiary Pays Principle - Ability to Pay Principle - Futurity puzzle - Non-identity problem

Revision notes on Non-Human Animals in Political Theory. Topics covered: - Moral Status and Justice Status - Zoocentrism - Welfarism - Subject-centrism - Meat eating and farming - Singer: Preference Utilitarianism - Regan: Subjects-of-a-life