Legitimacy and the State

Traditionally, legitimacy has been associated exclusively with states. But are states actually legitimate? And why should questions of legitimacy be about only them? This conference focuses on these two questions. It will examine both critiques and defences of the legitimacy of the state. It will consider, too, assumptions about the nature of authority that inform the usual focus of discussions of legitimacy on the state. Finally, it will enquire into the legitimacy of supranational institutions and law beyond the state.

The conference will take place on 14-15 October 2016 and will be hosted by the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney. Nine leading scholars have confirmed that they will deliver papers: Martin Krygier, Mattias Kumm, Cormac Mac Amhlaigh, Fabienne Peter, Philip Pettit, Joseph Raz, Nicole Roughan, Wojciech Sadurski, and Paul Weithman. Each paper will be distributed in advance and, at the conference, will be introduced and discussed by a commentator, to whom the author will have an opportunity to respond, before being discussed by all participants. The organisers hope that the papers will subsequently be published in a collection of new work on the topic.