Essays on Medium
A starting point, then a fuller list
These essays explore particular questions in World Citizen Theory. If you are new to the subject, begin with the three essays below. You can also browse the full list and choose a question that interests you. No prior reading of the books is required.
Start Here: Three Introductory Essays
1. The Central Question
Why Can We Choose Our Rulers but Not Our Political Community?
2. The Proposed Society
What Is the World Citizen Society?
3. Two Dimensions of Political Freedom
Hand Democracy and Foot Democracy: Two Dimensions of Political Freedom
All Essays
The list below includes all six essays in the series confirmed for this guide. The three introductory essays appear here as well.
Where Should I Begin?
Why Can We Choose Our Rulers but Not Our Political Community?
Start with the question behind the series: why is choosing a government more familiar than choosing the political community in which we belong? This essay introduces the problem of membership assigned largely through birth.
What Kind of Society Is Being Proposed?
What Is the World Citizen Society?
For an overview of the proposal, read this essay on residence, equal civic standing, secure membership, and cooperation among self-governing communities. It also explains why transition must proceed in stages.
How Do Participation and Community Choice Fit Together?
Hand Democracy and Foot Democracy: Two Dimensions of Political Freedom
This essay distinguishes governing a community from within from choosing among communities. It explains why movement cannot replace democratic participation, and why choosing to stay can also be an exercise of freedom.
Why Is the Freedom to Leave Insufficient?
Why Exit Is Not Enough: The Missing Problem of Entry
Leaving offers little political choice if there is no realistic way to establish life elsewhere. This essay examines Entry alongside the receiving community’s claims to self-government, and asks how those freedoms can be reconciled.
How Can a Claim Become a Usable Right?
How Does Entry Become a Right?
Using voting-rights history as a carefully limited comparison, this essay separates winning recognition for a claim from securing its practical protection. It introduces two problems for Entry: building political support and creating institutions that make the right usable.
How Far Does a Right to Visit Take Us?
Kant and the Limits of Cosmopolitan Right
Kant’s cosmopolitan right offers a starting point for considering the claims of peaceful foreigners. This essay distinguishes a right to visit from a route to stable residence and, eventually, membership. It also considers self-government and the dangers of conquest and concentrated political power.
A Suggested Reading Route
For a first introduction, read the opening question, the society overview, and the explanation of Hand Democracy and Foot Democracy. Then turn to the two essays on Entry for the argument about access and rights. The Kant essay offers a further way to consider the distance between visiting, establishing a life, and becoming a member.
For a shorter explanation of an individual term, visit Key Concepts on this website. For the longer historical argument and institutional proposal, visit Books.
