Conclusion

Abstract

The main tasks of this book have now been completed. Several philosophical theories of political obligation have been discussed and evaluated, and a more promising alternative account has been sketched. The presentation of that alternative account is admittedly underdeveloped, though its broad outlines should be reasonably clear. Certainly it would benefit from a fuller statement even in general terms, but more particularly it indicates the need for a more detailed exploration of political obligation in the context of specific political communities. It is primarily this kind of enquiry which will produce a richer and more complex understanding of the various ways in which political obligation structures and enters into people’s practical deliberations, and the role it plays in the life of different political communities. However, this is as far as the enquiry into political obligation will be taken in the present book.