The Democratic Case for Open Borders

This chapter examines the democratic case for open borders, with particular emphasis on Arash Abizadeh's argument. More specifically, it considers Abizadeh's support for the positive claim that "anyone who accepts a genuinely democratic theory of political legitimation domestically is thereby committed to rejecting the unilateral domestic right to control and close the state's boundaries." It first analyzes the plausibility of the notion that political coercion cannot be legitimate unless it is under the democratic control of all those coerced. It then discusses the right of the citizens of legitimate states to freedom of association and whether a state's claim to limit immigration is distinct from a property owner's claim to her land. If democratic governance is perfectly compatible with open borders, then it undermines the contention that commitment to democracy requires closing borders.