New Publication: Voting Rights of Refugees

by | Feb 8, 2017

Voting Rights of Refugees by Ruvi Zeigler (University of Reading) develops a novel legal argument about the voting rights of refugees recognised in the 1951 Geneva Convention. The main normative contention is that such refugees should have the right to vote in the political community where they reside, assuming that this community is a democracy and that its citizens have the right to vote. The book argues that recognised refugees are a special category of non-citizen residents: they are unable to participate in elections of their state of origin, do not enjoy its diplomatic protection and consular assistance abroad, and are unable or unwilling, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution, to return to it. Refugees deserve to have a place in the world, in the Arendtian sense, where their opinions are significant and their actions are effective. Their state of asylum is the only community in which there is any prospect of political participation on their part.

  • Brings together elements of the political theory and refugee law discourses by conceptualising the legal and political predicament of recognised refugees as non-citizens in their state of asylum
  • Will be a valuable source for refugee and international law scholars seeking to explore questions of out-of-country voting, protection abroad, expulsion of non-citizens and voting rights jurisprudence
  • Contributes to the discourse concerning the interrelations between citizenship and the right to vote

Share this:

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Related Content

New Oxford Pro Bono Publico Executive Committee 2015-2016

New Oxford Pro Bono Publico Executive Committee 2015-2016

OPBP is delighted to welcome the newly appointed OPBP Executive Committee 2015-2016. The roles for this year are ...
Rhodes House LGBTQ Forum

Rhodes House LGBTQ Forum

This weekend marks the first Inaugural Rhodes LGBTQ Forum, being held at Rhodes House from the 24-26 February ...
Judicial Independence in Developing Democracies: International Virtual Conference

Judicial Independence in Developing Democracies: International Virtual Conference

This one-day international conference discusses the nature and scope of judicial independence in the Global South. ...