Resisting the Global Leviathan

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the burgeoning neo-republican literature by proposing a novel solution to the problem of transnational domination. In doing so, the thesis will offer a coherent and defensible account of transnational domination, one which claims that the problem of transnational domination can arise in two distinct forms. The first form of transnational domination occurs when external agents interfere or threaten to interfere in the affairs of states, since any interference with states will correlatively interfere with the lives of the individuals living within that state. The second form, what I will term individualised transnational domination, occurs when transnational control bypasses the state and interferes in the lives of individuals. Addressing the two forms of transnational domination and securing an internationally just political framework requires that we look to create a multi-level system of cosmopolitan democratic governance in which: states’ capacity to secure social and political justice is protected; transnational agents, including multinational corporations, are subject to constitutional constraints; and individuals are able to influence and direct the governance that they’re subject to, thereby rendering the framework democratically legitimate.