Authority, Authoritarianism, and Political Theory

This Section explores the intersection of authority, authoritarianism, and normative political theory and their implications for justification and legitimacy. Democratic authority remains a foundational concept in political theory yet faces new pressures, including populist authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, enduring autocratic regimes, digital surveillance and algorithmic governance, and crises that test the limits of state power and civil resistance. These challenges renew the importance of examining the conceptual foundations of legitimate political authority, the conditions under which it becomes pathological, and the theoretical resources for distinguishing between these two forms. The Section invites reflection on these issues and their implications for values such as legitimacy, freedom, equality, consent, accountability, and collective self-determination. Particular attention will be paid to how authority can be rendered compatible with democratic principles and practices. We welcome contributions in applied and first-order political theory addressing the normative implications of contemporary (authoritarian) challenges for democracy and liberalism and the conceptual boundaries of legitimate authority. Possible applied theory areas include emergency governance, digital surveillance and/or algorithmic governance, populist politics, judicial and international authority, economic regulation and workplace democracy, and civil disobedience and resistance. First-order political theory contributions can offer novel normative or critical insights about (e.g.) the conceptual foundations of authority, the social and epistemic conditions of democratic legitimacy, or the relationship between authority and other central political concepts.