Unit: Understanding the concept of political obligation

Session 1 & 2: The idea of Political Obligation

In the first two sessions the students will be introduced to the idea of political obligation and its
historical and conceptual background.

Readings:

1. Carole Pateman, The Problem of Political Obligation (1979), Ch1

2. Dorota Mocrosinska, “The Problem of Political Obligation” in Rethinking Political Obligation:
Moral Principles, Communal Ties and Citizenship (2012)
3. Ralf Sartorius, “Political Authority and Political Obligation”, 67(1) Virginia Law Review (1981)

Some of the most basic questions that should be considered for reflection:

a. What is state and state power?

b. What is a social contract and why is it important to make sense of modern state?
c. What is ‘citizenship’?
d. Why the modern societies are built on the idea of citizenship?
e. Why consent is the basis of everything ‘public’ in modern societies?
f. What is the idea of constitutionalism?
g. What are the limits on individual freedom and that of state power?

Session 3: Citizenship as ‘active political responsibility’

Readings:

1. Bhiku Parekh, “A Misconceived Discourse of Political Obligation” XLI Political Studies (1993)

Session 4: Many faces of ‘responsible citizenship’: an overview

a. Constitutional accountability
i. Participation
ii. Critique and questioning
iii. Normative engagement
iv. Seeking rights, dignity and inclusivity

b. Conscientious Objection
c. Civic Resistance and Civil Disobedience
d. Constructive engagement

Readings:

1. Jurgen Mackert and Brian Turner, ‘Introduction’ in The Transformation of Citizenship, Vol 3,
(2017)
2. Fundamental duties in the Indian Constitution