Choosing the Governed

Join us for another insightful edition of the Human Rights Speaker Series. This event is part of a series of Human Rights-focused seminars that regularly occur during the Spring term. 

Abstract

Traditionally, legal scholars have focused on the power of rulers and how they are chosen. Institutions, elections, votes – democracy is often reduced to the electoral process. But prior to this, it is equally important to consider who can become part of the people. It is then no longer a question of choosing those who govern, but of choosing those who are governed. For democracies are supposed to let the governed decide, making them citizens and not only subjects. Who decides who is a citizen in a democracy? How is the power to choose citizens exercised? How are the boundaries of the political community defined? What do law and political theory tell us about the legitimacy of the criteria used? Using data from a number of different countries, articulating various policies for gaining, losing and retaining citizenship, this lecture sets out to explore the human borders of democracy.

Speakers

• Jules Lepoutre, Professor of Public Law at the University Côte d’Azur (Nice, France) and Director of the International and European Law Research Laboratory (LADIE).
• Chair: Dr Sophie Duroy, Lecturer, Essex Law School.

Jules Lepoutre is a Professor of Public Law at the University Côte d’Azur (Nice, France) and Director of the International and European Law Research Laboratory (LADIE). He was Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Florence (2020-21), Guest Researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center (2018-19), and Visiting Researcher at the University of Westminster Law School (2015-16). He has previously worked at the University of Corsica, the European University Institute in Florence, and the University of Lille. He is the Principal Investigator of the DEMIG project (2024-26), funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), which focuses on the relationship between democracy and migration. Professor Lepoutre has published extensively on nationality and citizenship acquisition and loss, in French, EU and international law. He also draws on comparative politics and political theory to reflect on the global challenges of citizenship.

How to join us

All are welcome.

• If you want to join us in person, please book your place via Eventbrite.
• If you would like to join us via Zoom, please register here.