Orgad, Liav. 2014. “
Liberalism, Allegiance, and Obedience: Loyalty Oaths in A Liberal Democracy”.
Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 17 (1) : 99-122.
Publisher's VersionAbstractThe Article examines the wisdom of loyalty oaths as a legal institution in contemporary liberal democracies. First, using comparative analysis the Article highlights the growing global interest in loyalty oaths. Second, based upon historical evidence the Article explores the functions of loyalty oaths and assesses their role. Third, through using legal analysis the Article challenges the validity of loyalty oaths and identifies three fundamental concerns related to their content and form: the rule of law, freedom of conscience, and equality.
The Article reveals liberal concerns associated with the added value of the duty of "loyalty to the law" (allegiance), as distinct from the duty to "obey the law" (obedience). It presents an ongoing tension between loyalty and liberalism and argues that the more loyalty liberal democracies demand, the less liberal they become. The Article concludes that loyalty oaths yield high costs but have low benefits and suggests that liberal democracies should abandon them as a legal institution.
Shapira, Anita, et al., ed. 2014. “
The Nation State and Immigration: The Age of Population Movements”. In Eastbourne: Sussex Academic Press , p. 240.
Publisher's VersionAbstractThe Nation State and Immigration: The Age of Population Movements is the third of a three-volume set which addresses key challenges facing the contemporary nation state from a global perspective but with special emphasis on the Middle East and Israel. This publication reflects research conducted under the auspices of The Israel Democracy Institute’s “Nation State Project”, which analyzes Israel’s complex reality in which a Jewish majority contends with an Arab minority, ultra-Orthodox religious forces reject the authority of the nation state, and an immigrant society exhibits substantial cultural and ethnic variance.
Volume III explores the cultural, social, and political effects of immigration on the contemporary nation state – its character, cohesion, and possible future, as well as on contemporary liberal democracy. Contributions deal with such issues as various liberal approaches to the issue of immigration and immigrant integration, nation-building narratives and their implications for immigrants and minorities, and citizenship tests and integration policy in the United States and in Europe, as well as Israel’s Law of Return and the debate about it and other aspects of the country’s immigration policy.