Author: haroonkhan

Machiavelli and Raison d’etat as basis of political obligation: Machiavelli provides the keyhole to peep into the post-Renaissance political theory and why does the state require its subject to pay obedience. In his Prince (1532), Machiavelli put forth the justification that the interest or the end of the state, which is acquisition and maintenance of power, is prime…

The British rule in India was characterized, amongst others, by: (i) feudal relations—zamindari, mahalwari and ryotwari based on how land right was granted to the people, in individual capacity or as village, and how revenue collection is patterned, and (ii) political relation—subjects bearing the laws, codes and regulations framed by the foreign rule. There was no political participation…

The theory of divine origin is found in the Manusmriti,20 Shantiparvan of Mahabharata and in Kautilaya’s Arthásastra. These ancient texts have talked about political and moral obligations of the subjects by implying the divine origin of rulers. L. N. Rangarajan, in his translation of Kautilaya’s Arthdsastra, states that while Dharmashastras are addressed to the individual, teaching him his dharma and regard deviations as sin, ‘the Arthashastras are addressed to…

Unlike the Christian tradition (the church-state controversy), in Islamic tradition, the temporal and the spiritual are not dichotomized. The state and political obligation are not outside the Quranic vision. As Karen Armstrong, who has written several books on religions, in her Islam: A Short History, says, ‘A Muslim had to redeem history, and that meant that…

Added to this duality of political and religious obligations, feudal Europe witnessed diffusion and dilution of even political obligation. Feudalism is characterized by diffusion of power, fixed social hierarchies and a rigid pattern of obligations and services. This means that unlike sovereignty of the nation-state, the feudal society had no centrally located power, no concept…

With the emergence of Christianity and decline of the Roman period, the issue of political obligation came to be debated from political as well as religious angles; what obligation a Christian bears to a king. The dictum that was put before the people appeared to be what Jesus had said and St. Paul had dutifully…

Greek political theory celebrated the polis but did not differentiate society from the State. Polis was all-encompassing and lack of distinction between the State and society meant lack of any distinction between the rights of individuals and authority of the polis. The two were merged and political obligation was as much a matter of civic…

Political Obligation during the Greek Period From Pericles to Aristotle, democracy was cradled in Athens, one of the most celebrated Greek poleis, city-states. The polis was a celebration of public life. Such was the importance they attached to political life and participation of individuals in the public life of the polis that those who were uninterested in the affairs…

Political obligation may imply obligation towards the State and the Constitution as well as resistance against them depending upon particular circumstances. For example, before independence it became the political obligation of the Indians to resist the colonial state but after we attained independence and had a Constitution of our own, the scope of political obligation…

Why should the state be respected and its laws obeyed? Answer to this question can vary if one looks from different perspectives. For some, it is because the authority of the state is divinely ordained (Divine rights) but for some others, it is because there is transcendental purpose in the journey of the state (teleos…