Democracy and disobedience

Abstract

Why, or in what circumstances, ought we to obey the law? Anyone seeking a dispassionate answer to this question should be able to follow the argument of this book. It centres on the common view that disobedience to the law, while justifiable in a dictatorship, is much more difficult to justify in a democracy. Proceeding from simple, small-scale societies, the author develops a distinctive theory of political obligation in an ideal democracy; and after discussing various forms of disobedience, including conscientious objection, the author asks to what extent existing systems of government approximate to this ideal.