There has been a great deal of academic literature on animals by moral philosophers within the past 30 years or so, but very little work has been done on the issue by political theorists. The aim of this paper is to try to identify what, if anything, political theorists can contribute to the debate about animal rights. A number of possibilities are explored. It is suggested that aspects of democratic theory are obviously relevant to the question of animals as is the use of the concept of justice as opposed to morality and the debate, current in political theory, between advocates of ideal and non-ideal theory. Less useful, it is suggested, is the use of citizenship or the notion of a political community, to explain the extra obligations we have to those animals with whom we have a reciprocal relationship. Such an approach, associated in particular with Donalson and Kymlicka, is flawed mainly because it has a very limited application, and, as a result, the vast majority of animals are still dependent on a capacity-oriented approach that is common currency within animal ethics.
