The justice of the pieces: liberalism, democracy, and the globalization of the nation-state

Mudde, Anna (2004) The justice of the pieces: liberalism, democracy, and the globalization of the nation-state. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

For Carl Schmitt, sovereign rule and the nature of sovereign power are conceptions of what makes a state political. The sovereign nation is legitimated by its conceptualized (or real) democratic foundation, but is maintained by the absolutist nature of its sovereign power. Similarly, Hobbesian sovereignty presupposes the notion of state as that body by which sovereign power governs. I argue that the international community is formulated on a Hobbesian conception of nation-state sovereignty, which embodies a contradiction: the political value of nations as (state) individuals, and the liberal value of a common humanity. This contradiction is mirrored in the tension that exists within the state between democracy and liberalism, and is central to Western international political theory and policy. The validity of Hobbesian-based conceptions of nation-state sovereignty are being pulled into question. Nation-states, I argue, are increasingly required to use the sovereign decision in order to justify their sovereignty, as defined by the 'nation'. I attempt to show why the present international system, as a contributor to the forces of liberal globalization, naturally leads us to question state sovereignty, which ensures the continued use of violent sovereign power.

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