PhD course: The legitimacy of international law in a time of backlash against international institutions - Reading list by topic

I. In Medias Res:

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  Wheeler, Caleb H. 2018. "In the Spotlight: The Legitimacy of the International Criminal Court." International Law Blog, October 22, 2018. 

  Dellmuth et al. 2020. "The United Nations at 74: Legitimacy in Question? (blogalstudies.com)", blogspot last updated April 16, 2020. 

  Dingwerth, Klaus., Witt, Antonia. 2019. "What makes the EU, the UN, and their peers legitimate?", OUPblog, April 20, 2019. 

  Bergsten, Susanné & Lee, Song Ah Lee. “The Global Backlash Against Women’s Rights: A Stark Reminder on International Women’s Day”, Human Rights Watch News. March 7, 2023. 

   

• II. General overview: The relationship between law, political science, and philosophy

  
  - Bodansky, Daniel. 2013. "Legitimacy in International Law and International Relations." In Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations: The State of the Art, edited by Jeffrey Dunoff and Mark Pollack, 321-342. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press . (22 p)

  Ratner, Steven. "International Law and Political Philosophy: Uncovering New Linkages." Philosophy Compass 14, no. 2 (2019): N/a. (12 p)

   

  III. Perspectives on legitimacy from political science – an introduction

  - Hurd, Ian. 1999. "Legitimacy and authority in international politics."  International Organization 53 (2):379-408. (30 p)

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  IV. Perspectives on legitimacy from law – an introduction

  - Waldron, Jeremy. The concept and the rule of law, Georgia Law Review, 43 (2008), parts II, III, V, and VII only (31 p)

  - Bodansky, Daniel 2013. Same text as for topic II

  - Franck, Thomas. The Power of Legitimacy and the Legitimacy of Power: International Law in an Age of Power Disequilibrium, AJIL vol. 100 No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 88-106 (19 p)

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  V. Perspectives on legitimacy from philosophy  – an introduction

  - Buchanan, Allen, and Robert Keohane. 2006. "The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions."  Ethics and International Affairs 20 (4):405-437. (33 p)

  - Buchanan, Allen. "The Legitimacy of International Law" in  Besson, S., & Tasioulas, J. (2010). The Philosophy of international law (pp. XIV, 611). Oxford University Press, pp. 79-96 (18 p)
   

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  VI. “Backlash”: Its meaning, manifestations, causes and consequences

  Danchin, Peter G. and Farrall, Jeremy Matam and Ford, Jolyon and Rana, Shruti and Saunders, Imogen and Verhoeven, Daan, Navigating the Backlash against Global Law and Institutions (2020). 38 Australian Yearbook of International Law (forthcoming 2020) , ANU College of Law Research Paper No. 20.20,

  Erik Voeten, Is the Public Backlash against Globalization a Backlash against Legalization and Judicialization?, International Studies Review, Volume 24, Issue 2

  Ford, Jolyon, Backlash against a Rules-based International Human Rights Order? An Australian Perspective (2020). Australian Yearbook of International Law (Special Issue 2020), ANU College of Law Research Paper No. 20.19

  Deitelhoff, N. (2020) “What’s in a name? contestation and backlash against international norms and Institutions,” The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 22(4), pp. 715–727.

  Madsen, M., Cebulak, P., & Wiebursch, M (2018). Backlash against international courts: Explaining the forms and patterns of resistance to international courts. International Journal of Law in Context, 14(2), 197-220.

  Mansbridge, J. and Shames, S.L. (2008) “Toward a theory of backlash: Dynamic resistance and the central role of power,” Politics & Gender, 4(04), p. 623. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743923x08000500.

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  VII. Populism and backlash

  Helfer, L. (2020). Populism and International Human Rights Law Institutions: A Survival Guide. In. G. Neuman (Ed), Human Rights in a Time of Populism: Challenges and Responses (pp. 218-249). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  Madsen, M., Cebulak, P., & Wiebursch, M (2018). Backlash against international courts: Explaining the forms and patterns of resistance to international courts. International Journal of Law in Context, 14(2), 197-220.

  Petrov, J. (2020) “The populist challenge to the European Court of Human Rights,” International Journal of Constitutional Law, 18(2), pp. 476–508.

  Voeten, E. (2020). Populism and Backlashes against International Courts. Perspectives on Politics, 18/2), 407-422).

  Zysset, A. (2022) “Calibrating the response to populism at the European Court of Human Rights,” International Journal of Constitutional Law, 20(3), pp. 976–1005.

   

  VIII. Can backlash be morally justified?

  Buchanan, A., 2004. The morality of international legal reform. In: Justice, Legitimacy, and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 440–474.

  Hurd, I., 2019. Legitimacy and contestation in global governance: Revisiting the folk theory of international institutions. The Review of International Organizations, 14 (4), 717–729.
   

  IX. Institutional design and the legitimacy of international courts

  - Staton, J. K., & Moore, W. H. (2011). Judicial power in domestic and international politics. International Organization, 65(3), (34 p).

  - Lupu, Y. (2013). International Judicial Legitimacy: Lessons from National Courts. Theoretical Inquiries in Law, 14(2), 437-454.

   

  X. Legitimation strategies of international institutions

  - Gronau, Jennifer, and Henning Schmidtke. 2016. "The quest for legitimacy in world politics – international institutions’ legitimation strategies."  Review of International Studies 42 (3):535-557. (23 p)

  - Tallberg, Jonas, and Michael Zürn. 2019. "The legitimacy and legitimation of international organizations: introduction and framework."  The Review of International Organizations 14 (4):581-606. (26 p)

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  XI. Legitimacy, backlash and interpretative methodology

  Pauwelyn , J. and M. Elsig (2013). The Politics of Treaty Interpretation: Variations and Explanations across International Tribunals. Interdisciplinary perspectives on international law and international relations: the state of the art. J. L. Dunoff and M. A. Pollack. Cambridge, Cambridge university press: 445-477. (33p)

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  XII. Institutional responses to backlash

  - Øyvind Stiansen, Erik Voeten, Backlash and Judicial Restraint: Evidence from the European Court of Human Rights, International Studies Quarterly, Volume 64, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 770–784 (15 p).

  - Madsen, M. R., Mayoral, J. A., Strezhnev, A., & Voeten, E. (2022). Sovereignty, Substance, and Public Support for European Courts’ Human Rights Rulings. American Political Science Review, 116(2), 419-438.

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  XIII. Interdisciplinary research on backlash and legitimacy: A panel discussion

  
  To be supplemented

  Recommended supplementary readings sorted after relevant sessions
  
  VIII. Can backlash be morally justified?

  Rawls, J., 1999. A Theory of Justice. revised edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chapter VI. Duty and Obligation.

  Scheuerman, W.E., 2018. Constituent power and civil disobedience: Beyond the nation-state? Journal of International Political Theory.

  XI. Legitimacy, backlash and interpretative methodology

  -  Dothan, Shai. (2013). 'How International Courts Enhance Their Legitimacy' Theoretical inquiries in law, Vol.14 (2), p.455-478

   

  - Çalı, Başak (2013). The Legitimacy of International Interpretive Authorities for Human Rights Treaties. In Føllesdal, Schaffer, and Ulfstein, (eds.) The Legitimacy of International Human Rights Regimes, p.141-164

  - Helfer, Laurence R ; Alter, Karen J (2013). 'Legitimacy and Lawmaking: A Tale of Three International Courts' Theoretical inquiries in law, Vol.14 (2), p.479-504

  - Madsen, M., Cebulak, P., & Wiebusch, M. (2018). Backlash against international courts: Explaining the forms and patterns of resistance to international courts. International Journal of Law in Context, 14(2), 197-220. doi:10.1017/S1744552318000034

  - Bates, E. (2017). Democratic Override (or Rejection) and the Authority of the Strasbourg Court: The UK Parliament and Prisoner Voting. In M. Saul, A. Follesdal, & G. Ulfstein (Eds.), The International Human Rights Judiciary and National Parliaments: Europe and Beyond (Studies on Human Rights Conventions, pp. 275-303). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316874820.012

  - Jeffrey Kahn, The Relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation: Conflicting Conceptions of Sovereignty in Strasbourg and St Petersburg, European Journal of International Law, Volume 30, Issue 3, August 2019, Pages 933-959, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chz049