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Free States for Free Citizens? Notes on the Idea of Political Independence from a Republican Perspective

Citizenship
Democracy
Globalisation
Political Theory
Freedom
Anna Meine
University of Siegen
Anna Meine
University of Siegen

Abstract

“[I]t is only possible to be free in a free state,” Quentin Skinner sums up one of republicanisms core tenets (1998: 60). Lately, the idea of a free state has gained considerable attention as part of a republican law of peoples (Pettit 2010) or republican internationalism (Laborde/Ronzoni 2016). Cosmopolitan republican voices, in turn, provide a prominent critique of statist understandings of democracy and the international system (Bohman 2007). So far, however, neither strand of argument explicitly discusses the concept of political independence. It remains a somewhat ambivalent background assumption in republican internationalism on the one hand and an either negligible or outdated concept from the point of view of cosmopolitan thinking. And yet, theoretically examining this notion – not least from a republican perspective – is important and timely in view of debates on inter-, trans- or supranational decision-making in general as well as regarding the upsurge of claims for political independence around the world and in Europe in particular. Therefore, the paper takes the republican notion of a free state as a starting point, not to assess claims to secession, but to critically examine the meaning, value, and tenability of the notion of political independence in an increasingly interdependent and post-sovereign world. By reconstructing the arguments for free statehood and asking for the relations between inside and outside of a political order, i.e. for the boundaries of as well as for the relations between political demoi and jurisdictions, the paper establishes the question of independence under post-Westphalian conditions. In line with more cosmopolitan voices, it critically engages the strong connection of citizenship to the political form of the state and the focus on states in international politics. Citizenship – not statehood – is to be the republican focal point when discussing political institution-building not only in, but also beyond the state. This does not mean, however, that the notion of independence is necessarily outdated. Citizenship, understood as a political status which links the relations individuals have towards political institutions to the relations they hold towards their political equals, is not exclusive, but it implies boundaries. It does not suggest a dichotomous conception of independence, it rather provides a valuable normative and analytical gateway for negotiating more complex understandings thereof. On this basis, the paper sketches a multi-level conception of independence. From the vantage point of citizenship, it discusses the interconnections between (a) the normative ideas of freedom, democratic self-determination, and sovereignty that inform a possible republican conception of independence and (b) the individual, collective, and institutional dimensions which independence encompasses. Thereby, it opens up a fruitful perspective for a more complex discussion of the relations between inside and outside of political jurisdictions and demoi. Moreover, it enables a more nuanced and compelling examination of possible modes and levels of independence, interdependence, and union in a transnational democratic order. It, thus, is more suited to assess the tenability of the ideal of political independence under post-Westphalian conditions while staying true to the core of republican thought.