Against Obligation: The Multiple Sources of Authority in a Liberal Democracy

Awards:   Nominated for David Easton Award 2013 Nominated for Hubert Morken Award 2013
Author:   Abner S. Greene
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
ISBN:  

9780674064416


Pages:   352
Publication Date:   25 April 2012
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
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Against Obligation: The Multiple Sources of Authority in a Liberal Democracy


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Awards

  • Nominated for David Easton Award 2013
  • Nominated for Hubert Morken Award 2013

Overview

"Do citizens of a nation such as the United States have a moral duty to obey the law? Do officials, when interpreting the Constitution, have an obligation to follow what that text meant when ratified? To follow precedent? To follow what the Supreme Court today says the Constitution means? These are questions of political obligation (for citizens) and interpretive obligation (for anyone interpreting the Constitution, often officials). Abner Greene argues that such obligations do not exist. Although citizens should obey some laws entirely, and other laws in some instances, no one has put forth a successful argument that citizens should obey all laws all the time. Greene's case is not only ""against"" obligation. It is also ""for"" an approach he calls ""permeable sovereignty"": all of our norms are on equal footing with the state's laws. Accordingly, the state should accommodate religious, philosophical, family, or tribal norms whenever possible. Greene shows that questions of interpretive obligation share many qualities with those of political obligation. In rejecting the view that constitutional interpreters must follow either prior or higher sources of constitutional meaning, Greene confronts and turns aside arguments similar to those offered for a moral duty of citizens to obey the law."

Full Product Details

Author:   Abner S. Greene
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   Harvard University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.666kg
ISBN:  

9780674064416


ISBN 10:   0674064410
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   25 April 2012
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock   Availability explained
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Reviews

Against Obligation is one of the finest contributions to constitutional theory in recent years. Abner Greene shows the connections between questions of political and interpretive obligation in this remarkably incisive work. His arguments against the leading justifications of political and interpretive obligation are vigorous and fair. And his arguments for the multiple sources of obligation and interpretive authority in a liberal democracy are creative, normatively attractive, and deeply grounded in a powerful account of our constitutional order.--James E. Fleming, Boston University


Against Obligation is one of the finest contributions to constitutional theory in recent years. Abner Greene shows the connections between questions of political and interpretive obligation in this remarkably incisive work. His arguments against the leading justifications of political and interpretive obligation are vigorous and fair. And his arguments for the multiple sources of obligation and interpretive authority in a liberal democracy are creative, normatively attractive, and deeply grounded in a powerful account of our constitutional order.--James E. Fleming, Boston University In Against Obligation , Abner Greene upends conventional wisdom about several fundamental political questions. Why and when must people obey the law? What does religious freedom require in a liberal democratic state? Must judges and citizens respect historical views about constitutional meaning? Smart, ambitious, provocative, and original this tightly argued and broad-ranging book compels readers to reexamine basic assumptions about political obligation, constitutional democracy, and religious freedom.--Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University In Against Obligation, Abner Greene upends conventional wisdom about several fundamental political questions. Why and when must people obey the law? What does religious freedom require in a liberal democratic state? Must judges and citizens respect historical views about constitutional meaning? Smart, ambitious, provocative, and original this tightly argued and broad-ranging book compels readers to reexamine basic assumptions about political obligation, constitutional democracy, and religious freedom.--Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University Against Obligation is one of the finest contributions to constitutional theory in recent years. Abner Greene shows the connections between questions of political and interpretive obligation in this remarkably incisive work. His arguments against the leading justifications of political and interpretive obligation are vigorous and fair. And his arguments for the multiple sources of obligation and interpretive authority in a liberal democracy are creative, normatively attractive, and deeply grounded in a powerful account of our constitutional order.--James E. Fleming, Boston University In Against Obligation, Abner Greene upends conventional wisdom about several fundamental political questions. Why and when must people obey the law? What does religious freedom require in a liberal democratic state? Must judges and citizens respect historical views about constitutional meaning? Smart, ambitious, provocative, and original--this tightly argued and broad-ranging book compels readers to reexamine basic assumptions about political obligation, constitutional democracy, and religious freedom.--Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University


In Against Obligation , Abner Greene upends conventional wisdom about several fundamental political questions. Why and when must people obey the law? What does religious freedom require in a liberal democratic state? Must judges and citizens respect historical views about constitutional meaning? Smart, ambitious, provocative, and original this tightly argued and broad-ranging book compels readers to reexamine basic assumptions about political obligation, constitutional democracy, and religious freedom.--Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University


In Against Obligation, Abner Greene upends conventional wisdom about several fundamental political questions. Why and when must people obey the law? What does religious freedom require in a liberal democratic state? Must judges and citizens respect historical views about constitutional meaning? Smart, ambitious, provocative, and original this tightly argued and broad-ranging book compels readers to reexamine basic assumptions about political obligation, constitutional democracy, and religious freedom.--Christopher Eisgruber, Princeton University


Author Information

Abner S. Greene is Leonard F. Manning Professor of Law at Fordham University.

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