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Students Zone / Questions / Chapter 24: Politics: Legitimacy and the State

1. Can there be a utilitarian theory of justice?

2. Do you believe there is a distinctive ‘women’s politics’?

3. Explain and critically assess Thomas Hobbes’ belief that the powers of the sovereign should be unlimited.

4. Examine critically the problems raised by claiming that the law is the expression of the general will.

5. It is often argued that every police officer’s authority depends upon the power of the gun. Discuss critically the view of authority which maintains it amounts to little more than the possession of sufficient power.

6. Is it the case that in accepting authority we no longer exercise our own judgement?

7. Does the state always have the right to compel its citizens to comply with its authority?

8. ‘The law is whatever the courts say it is.’ What philosophical problems does this view raise?

9. ‘Authority amounts to nothing more than the possession of power.’ Discuss.

10. What relationship holds between power and political authority?

11. Discuss the view that the law should reflect the moral values of society if it is to be legitimate.

12. Is might always right?