The State and Its People

This article considers the relationship between the state and its people, reflecting on Nick Barber’s principles of constitutionalism. The joint intention of the people is central to the social reality of the good state, which is an institutionally ordered people. Other forms of political order, including empire, are possible, but there is good reason for a people to form a state and to exercise political agency. While under some conditions non-democratic rule is legitimate, there is good reason for authority to be shared widely and for rulers to foster close connections with the ruled, which makes self-government possible. Barber’s account of subsidiarity risks neglecting social solidarity in general, and nationality in particular, which would undermine the joint intention of the people. The sovereign state is the means by which a people participates in the international realm, but sovereignty may be misused to alienate a people from the state.