Legitimate International Institutions: A Neorepublican Perspective

Abstract

Neorepublican theory requires the legitimate domestic state to protect people against domination by others in a way that is not dominating itself: state coercion is to be conducted under the pressure of citizens and their representatives on terms that citizens equally accept. The international order serves a similar protective role in relation to states themselves, and indirectly their members. So what is going to be required for its legitimacy? The chapter outlines a neorepublican response, focusing on how to resolve two distinctive problems. One is the membership problem as to which entities are to play the role played by citizens in the domestic context; the answer given is, legitimate domestic states or states that can be made legitimate. The other is the imbalance problem as to how such states can be equally empowered in the control of the international order; there is no easy answer but neither are there grounds for despair.