BPS102 | Political Science II

This course probes the specific question of political obligation, which centres around citizens’ obligation to obey the legitimately enforceable laws of the state. The history of western political thought is a site for arguments about the requirement and limits of obedience to the law and the way such obedience mediates the relationship between the state and its citizens, and among citizens themselves. Assumptions of liberty, equality as well as requirements of justice and justiciable rights mediate this relationship. But questions of class, gender, race and caste have also shaped the mediation and raised questions for the usual understandings of political obligation. For example: Does the metaphor of contract and consent leave women out? Can the imposition of political obligation supersede the requirement of addressing social injustice grounded in sex-, caste- and race-based subordination? Many contemporary political communities include significant populations marginalised by forms of structural injustice. Further, many contemporary polities are in the grip of neoliberalism and populism, and are veering toward constitutionalising ‘majorities’ in ways that significantly alter the expectations related to democratic states. Keeping all of the aforementioned in mind, the readings of the course outline first, in broad brushstrokes, the main features of the mainstream views about political obligation. The course then engages a series of critical perspectives with regard to obedience, some of which respond to themes related to feminism, anarchism, civil-disobedience, punishment, resistance and the spectre of populism to animate the difficulties in conceptualising the relationship between the demos and the state, especially through law.

Course Objectives

– To theoretically acquaint students with the idea that the relationship between state and citizen is highly contingent

– To acquaint students with both liberal political theory as well as its critiques from the lens of political obligation

– To delve into contemporary political debates which contextualise and raise questions about the more abstract aspects of theories of political obligation

– To familiarize students with some of the best scholarship on the themes under focus

– To encourage among students fair-minded, independent and argumentative engagement with academic texts, and with each other, both in reading and in writing