I. In medias res: International institutions facing a contemporary legitimacy crisis
- Wheeler, Caleb H. 2018. "In the Spotlight: The Legitimacy of the International Criminal Court." International Law Blog, October 22, 2018.
- Dellmuth et al. 2019. "The United Nations at 74: Legitimacy in Question?". Legitimacy in Global Governance (LegGov)", blogspot last updated October 24, 2019.
- Dingwerth, Klaus., Witt, Antonia. 2019. "What makes the EU, the UN, and their peers legitimate?", OUPblog, April 20, 2019.
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)
- Pavel, Carmen E., and David Lefkowitz. "Skeptical Challenges to International Law." Philosophy Compass 13, no. 8 (2018): N/a. (14 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)
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)
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)
- Føllesdal, A. “Survey Article: The Legitimacy of International Courts”, The Journal of Political Philosophy (2020), early view (24 p)
VI. Justice, relativism and universalism in human rights
- Zoepf, Katherine. ‘Talk of Human Rights Divides Saudi Arabia,’ The New York Times, May 31, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/world/middleeast/01iht-saudi.html?pagewanted=all
- Rachels, James. The Challenge of Cultural Relativism, in Rachels, James, and Rachels, Stuart. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 7th Ed. by Stuart Rachels. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. (18 p)
VII. 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).
- 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).
VIII. Judges in international courts: Selection, performance, diversity
- Olof Larsson, Theresa Squatrito, Øyvind Stiansen, and Taylor St John, ‘Selection and Appointment in International Adjudication: Insights from Political Science’, Academic Forum on ISDS Concept Paper 2019/10, 17 September 2019. (38 p)
- Dunnof, Jeffrey L. and Mark A. Pollack (2017) “The Judicial Trilemma”. American Journal of International Law, 111:2, pp. 225-276 (52 p)
IX. Subsidiarity
- Carozza, PG (2016). "The Problematic Applicability of Subsidiarity to International Law and Institutions." American Journal of Jurisprudence: 1-17. (17p)
- Follesdal, A (2014). "Subsidiarity and the global order". Global Perspectives on Subsidiarity. A Zimmermann & M Evans. Dordrecht, Springer: 207-220 (14 p)
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)
XI. Legitimacy 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)
XII. Democracy and state consent
- Follesdal, A (2018). "Constitutionalization, not democratization: how to assess the legitimacy of international courts". The legitimacy of international courts N Grossman, H Cohen, A Follesdal & G Ulfstein. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 307-337. (31 p)
- Pavel, C E (2021) "The Rule of Law and the Limits of Anarchy" Legal Theory, 27, No 1,(16 p)
XIII. Interdisciplinary research on legitimacy: A panel discussion. (Students choose one of the listed texts)
- Langvatn, Silje Aambo, and Theresa Squatrito. 2017. "Conceptualizing and Measuring the Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals." In The Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals, edited by Nobuo Hayashi and Cecilia Bailliet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (25 p)
- Ratner, Steven R. "Survey Article: Global Investment Rules as a Site for Moral Inquiry." Journal of Political Philosophy 27, no. 1 (2019): 107-135. (29 p)
- Song, Jiewuh. "Pirates and Torturers: Universal Jurisdiction as Enforcement Gap‐Filling." Journal of Political Philosophy 23, no. 4 (2015): 471-90. (20 p).
Recommended supplementary readings sorted after relevant sessions
II The relationship between law, political science, and philosophy
- Swift Adam and Stuart White. 2008. Political theory, social science and real politics. In David Leopold and Marc Stears (eds.): Political theory: Methods and approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press (On the relationship between political philosophy and political science)
- Waldron, J. (1999). Law and disagreement. Oxford, England: Clarendon, especially chapters 2 and 9. (On the relationship between political philosophy and law).
V Perspectives on legitimacy from philosophy
- Peter, Fabienne, "Political Legitimacy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Available using this link.
- Simmons, A. (1999). Justification and Legitimacy. Ethics, 109(4), p. 739-771.
- Buchanan, A (2010). "The Legitimacy of International Law" in Besson, S., & Tasioulas, J. (2010). The Philosophy of international law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Tasioulas, J. 2010). "The Legitimacy of International Law" in Besson, S., & Tasioulas, J. (2010). The Philosophy of international law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Buchanan, A. (2013). The heart of human rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press., chapters 4, 5 and 6.
- Raz, J. (1988). The Morality of Freedom (Clarendon Paperbacks). Oxford: Oxford University Press., chapters 2-4
VI. Justice, relativism and universalism in human rights
- Martha Nussbaum Women and Human Development, (CUP 2000) Serene J Khader, Decolonizing Universalism – A Transnational Feminist Ethic (OUP 2019).
- James Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights, (Oxford Blackwell, 2007) James Nickel, "Human Rights", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Available using this link.
- Dembour, Marie-Bénédicte (2010). "What are human rights? Four schools of thought", Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 32(1) pp. 1-20. (More extensively by same author: "Who believes in human rights? Reflections on the European Convention", Cambridge University Press (2010), ISBN 9780511618192.)
IX. Subsidiarity
- Andreas Follesdal (2016). "Subsidiarity and international human rights courts: respecting self-governance and protecting human rights - or neither? ." Law and Contemporary Problems 79(2).
- Yuval Shany (2018). "All Roads Lead to Strasbourg?: Application of the Margin of Appreciation Doctrine by the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee", Journal of International Dispute Settlement, vol. 9(2) pp. 180-198
XI. Legitimacy and interpretative methodology
- Dothan, Shai. (2013). ‘How International Courts Enhance Their Legitimacy’ Theoretical inquiries in law, Vol.14 (2), p.455-478
- 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
- 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
- Peat, Daniel. (2021). ‘The Tyranny Of Choice And The Interpretation Of Standards: Why The European Court Of Human Rights Uses Consensus’, New York University journal of international law & politics, 2021-01-01, Vol.53 (2), p.381-432
- Fikfak, V., and L. Izvorova (2022). ‘Language and Persuasion: Human Dignity at the European Court of Human Rights’, Human rights law review (forthcoming).
XII. Democracy and state consent
- David Lefkowitz, The Philosophy of International Law (CUP, 2021) Carmen Pavel, Law Beyond the State: Dynamic Coordination, State Consent, and Binding International Law (OUP, 2021) Carmen Pavel Divided Sovereignty: International Institutions and the Limits of State Authority (Oxford University Press, 2015).
- Carmen Pavel ‘Global and National Constitutionalism,’ Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory, Richard Bellamy and Jeff King, eds., forthcoming 2023.
- Carmen Pavel ‘Constitutionalism and Pluralism: Two Models of International Law,’ Routledge Handbook of the Rule of Law, Michael Sevel ed., forthcoming 2023.
- Carmen Pavel ‘Is International Law a Hartian Legal System?’ Ratio Juris, 31:3, 2018.
- Jeffrey Dunoff, Steven R. Ratner, David Wippman, International Law: Norms, Actors, Process: A Problem-Oriented Approach (Aspen Casebook) 4th Edition.