Self-determination and the limits on the right to include
States’ right to exclude prospective members is the subject of a fierce debate in political theory, but the right to include has received relatively little scholarly attention. To address this lacuna, we examine the puzzle of permissible inclusion: when may states confer citizenship on individuals t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publications
2024
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| Summary: | States’ right to exclude prospective members is the subject of a fierce debate in
political theory, but the right to include has received relatively little scholarly attention. To
address this lacuna, we examine the puzzle of permissible inclusion: when may states confer
citizenship on individuals they have no prior obligation to include? We first clarify why
permissible inclusion is a puzzle, then proceed to a normative evaluation of this practice and its
limits. We investigate self-determination – a dominant principle in theories of the right to
exclude – as a normative ground for limits on the right to include. We argue that states' duties to
respect one another's self-determination yields limits on permissible inclusion. When inclusive
policies for citizenship undermine the permissible scope of self-determination of other states,
they are impermissible; they should either be prohibited or compensated for. |
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