Free states for free citizens!? Arguments for a republicanism of plural polities
| Author | Anna Meine |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/17550882211029463 |
| Published date | 01 October 2022 |
| Date | 01 October 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/17550882211029463
Journal of International Political Theory
2022, Vol. 18(3) 274 –293
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/17550882211029463
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Free states for free citizens!?
Arguments for a
republicanism of
plural polities
Anna Meine
University of Siegen, Germany
Abstract
The paper assesses the questions if and, if yes, how the republican conception of free
statehood can and should inform a compelling understanding of a legitimate post-
Westphalian political order. To answer these questions, it, first, reconstructs the
foundational arguments of republican internationalists in favour of free states and,
second, assesses the points of contention republican cosmopolitans raise. Third, it
develops an alternative approach, a republicanism of plural polities: Based on a relational
and multi-dimensional understanding of citizenship, the paper questions the strong
internationalist reliance on the citizenship-state-nexus and on statehood in general,
but also takes issue with cosmopolitans’ neglect of the boundedness of democratic
self-determination. A republicanism of plural polities as a multi-perspectival approach
to democratic institution-building in and beyond the state is open to constellations of
plural polities of different forms and on different political levels while simultaneously
recognising the particularity of each ‘free polity’. It thereby adds a new dimension to
debates on the political forms legitimate institutions can assume under post-Westphalian
conditions and opens avenues for research on inter-polity relations, on more complex
constellations of self-rule and shared rule as well as of multilateral decision-making, on
sovereignty and independence. The latter are exemplified by reference to the European
context.
Keywords
Citizenship, cosmopolitanism, democracy internationalism, free state, republicanism
Corresponding author:
Anna Meine, Department of Social Sciences, University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Straße 2, Siegen 57068,
Germany.
Email: meine@politikwissenschaft.uni-siegen.de
1029463IPT0010.1177/17550882211029463Journal of International Political TheoryMeine
research-article2021
Article
Meine 275
Under conditions of globalisation and Europeanisation, the ‘Westphalian mapping of
political space’ (Fraser, 2009: 4), of exclusive and sovereign territorial (nation-)states,
comes under stress. These developments question the status of states as the sole locus of
individual freedom and democracy, the congruence of social and political spaces and the
effectiveness and legitimacy of democratic political rule. New forms of interconnected-
ness and inter-, trans- or supranational decision-making, in turn, open avenues for new
post-Westphalian forms of governance beyond the state (e.g. Scheuerman, 2018). Against
this political backdrop, theoretical debates ensue regarding the changing nature of sover-
eignty, its future tenability and about alternative forms of democratic self-determination
and patterns of legitimate political institution-building (e.g. Kalmo and Skinner, 2010;
Macdonald, 2018). One linchpin of these debates is the role of the state and its conse-
quences for broader patterns of politics and institution-building. Answers to the question
of whether the state can and should be conceptualised and justified as the central form of
legitimate political rule and the only context of freedom and democracy, imply conse-
quences for democratic institution-building within as well as beyond the state and for the
meaning and institutionalisation of citizenship, polities and their borders.
This is particularly true for recent debates surrounding the notion of free states in
republican thought. Republican thinking links individual freedom to institutional settings
in both domestic and international contexts. More particularly, republican contributions
reflect on the interrelations between different analytical levels of political order while
foregrounding democratic institutions and practices. They thereby offer distinct perspec-
tives on the links between individual freedom and self-determination on the one hand, and
the domestic and international levels on the other (see also Slaughter, 2018). Consequently,
this tradition of political thought is particularly suitable for assessing the political form of
the state and its normative underpinnings and functional justifications. It offers valuable
insights for negotiating principles of legitimate political institution-building within as
well as beyond the state. As Skinner argues: ‘Just as it is possible to live and act freely if
and only if you are a freeman [. . .], it is possible to live and act as a freeman if and only
if you live in a free state’ (Skinner, 2010: 99). Recently, this notion of free states as a core
tenet of contemporary neo-republicanism has gained additional traction as the building-
block of a ‘republican law of peoples’ or republican internationalism (Laborde and
Ronzoni, 2016; Pettit, 2010a). Republican internationalists defend states as the sole con-
text of citizens’ freedom and democracy, maintaining that international politics is neces-
sarily shaped by inter-state relations. International institutions are considered necessary to
guarantee non-domination among states, but they need to conform to state control (e.g.
Laborde and Ronzoni, 2016; Ronzoni, 2017). Yet, this strong focus on free states is con-
tested. Republican cosmopolitans question statist and internationalist understandings of
democracy and global order and argue in favour of more flexible, polyarchic and/or global
patterns of deliberation and decision-making, even a world federation (Bohman, 2007;
Martí, 2010). There are, however, hardly any accounts which advance into the grey area
between these established positions – that is, accounts which foreground the institutional
conditions of republican freedom and democracy and which are simultaneously open to
adapting the institutional set-up of democracy to the challenges that globalisation implies.
This paper therefore searches for more nuanced alternatives between state-focused repub-
lican internationalism and cosmopolitan republican governance of global scope. In doing
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