Distributing States' Duties

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Abstract

WE tend to think states have moral duties: duties to alleviate global warming, protect citizens' moral rights, admit asylum seekers, or wage only just wars.1 This common-sense view accords with a growing philosophical consensus that states are corporate moral agents, able to bear duties as entities conceptually distinct from—though supervenient upon and constituted by—their members. States have clear membership rules and decision-making procedures that are distinct from the decision-making procedures of members. States are able to act on their decisions, through the actions that their decision-making procedures authorise members to take. States may therefore bear prospective and retrospective responsibility for their decisions and actions. In what follows, I will assume this view is sound.2 Yet problems remain to be solved, if we are to have a full conception of states' duties. One problem arises from the following observation: when states fulfil (many of) their obligations, costs are borne by members—that is, by individuals who are subject to the state's authority. Take the alleviation of global warming. The fulfilment of many obligations states have here—accepting climate refugees, curbing fossil fuel emissions, funding research into green energy—will lead to costs for members—increased demand on public services, increased fossil fuel purchasing taxes, public funds being diverted to develop green energy, and so on. Some of these costs are direct means to, or components of, the discharge of the state's duty, while others are incurred as an effect of the state discharging its duty. We can consider both kinds of costs together: for both, the discharge of the state's duty requires that those subject to its authority lose out. And for both, the state has some control over the distribution of these costs amongst members. The question arises: how should these costs be distributed?3 This article develops a novel answer to this distribution question. To lay foundations, section I outlines a view on which moral agents—individual or collective—acquire duties from numerous and varied ‘sources’. These sources include causing harm, having the capacity to bring about some good, benefitting from harm, being in an associative relationship, and so on. Different sources have different levels of strength in different contexts, and often several sources combine to generate a duty to perform a particular act. Section II uses this framework to answer the distribution question with regard to small-scale groups, in which implementation is relatively straightforward. It advocates the following answer: the distribution of members' costs should, insofar as possible, track the source(s) of the group's duty.4 As a first step, costs should be divided amongst duty sources, in proportion to those sources' strength in generating the state's duty. As a second step, the costs assigned to each source should be divided amongst members in proportion to their instantiation of that source. This is the ‘source-tracking’ proposal. Section III applies the source-tracking proposal to states. It pays particular attention to the ‘shortfall’ problem, which is rife in long-term, large, and internally diverse groups like states. The problem arises when the group's duty derives from sources that aren't instantiated by any member. This is most acute for duties based in historical wrongdoing: perhaps the state did wrong decades ago, but no current member contributed to it, since none were born at the time. Here, an important duty source—perhaps the only duty source—doesn't apply to any member. So costs cannot be distributed in a source-tracking way. The result is a shortfall: the state has a duty, but no individuals should incur costs in its fulfilment. This problem has led recent authors to reject source-tracking distributions for states' wrongdoing-based duties.5 I address the shortfall problem by asking when and why shortfalls matter. I suggest they matter only when sources the source are generating moral for the state to act. a state a wrongdoing-based duty, but no members did The costs of the duty be distributed to members. I suggest this shortfall will when and the state's members from the harm, or have an associative with the or have a capacity to to with a These are sources of duties in which are in proposal is that some of duty or amongst be to the that will be is as a for the costs of states' duties. are several of a moral to a moral that is as having a duty to Some of these contributed to in a is or with while moral is to for is of from being in the and in an associative with We can view each of these as a source of moral for to with regard to source arises in many only in some will or sources be to or for to is, only in some will or sources be to generate a duty. are important for different sources are in different of a of and be the the is perhaps the member should with in Here, capacity is the source. the is perhaps the member most with in the the most Here, is the be the most to as And so on. sources apply in the and and an sources are at and sources to that responsibility with The strength of each source the to which that source is if the the but only in with and so but they have for many have And if the most but by capacity is important in the each strength in a is by the costs that discharging the duty Different sources' strength will be by perhaps costs can be on in the discharge of moral duties in the discharge of duties. the that the capacity duty be if will be the of moral responsibility in generating duty be only by of In this the to which sources are instantiated and the different in which each the sources' strength in the if each source is on its their strength may be to generate a duty for It will perhaps only to these sources in of the they to the duty. this of duty sources in we can to groups bear duties and amongst members the costs of discharging those duties. To this section on a who on for in the The is, on a the have a decision-making which decisions are consensus with if no consensus is This is to who is a which the which they who which of which and so on. One the is a is and in the and The the and the of a the a moral duty to The distribution question arises: how should the of this duty be distributed amongst the In the when the be the the answer is is at so each member should as and as or is a distribution is in the what about the should the be should bear the of the answer is that as should bear these the group's decision-making an conceptually from its members. This for some will bear the of for the has and so be to the the will have to for and or bear the costs of as having to reject costs will be on members. The question of how these costs should be We answer that the may these costs as by its decision-making Yet is that the has full the to a and the that the should from the duties. We about that the is important moral that the group's distribution of should be This is with should that if to the that we should this of to since In to the to states as groups, we should on how distribution should we were to a members who by any they may be the So as they are their may as and as the of responsibility in which or are subject to in both are upon to the for the and of their One or distributions that the members are of a in which are and so they should be to their of the costs we are to what is for members to be in the at in that of the that the group's duties. The of the are an that members the if that with we should consider the of can be from the costs for In the of the these can be if they costs or to they will bring the of their the and costs can be is no for to in to members from asking for the but the for or distributions to to are components of who act in are to a for in the they view as in their that is an that in those the of the responsibility for the group's actions is in an associative of its is an is of the of this with a a of the they they each as an of the they were in this so the member of the the that the others did and therefore In an we think that to discharge an associative to responsibility We We think that no to an of is that are to responsibility that they to the the and over the member in of the to the we think for to an of the for the most The is an to responsibility to of by The that these suggest the the duty to the is and if is the only who should the and of the while to did to and so on. on costs to and in clear how the a distribution to should bear some a if the duty is should To these to sources, the to a a The a duty to the group's duty is a distribution for both costs and any costs that the is for and the members The to have an duty to the for is the group's duty, for and to on the they have the with the will these the of the of this is to how they can when states' duties. The proposal is that the costs of discharging a duty should be distributed amongst members in proportion to the members' of the source(s) of the group's duty. As section those sources will be different in different and often a of sources will to the To the proposal distribution should in the costs are divided duty sources, in with those sources' the costs to each source are divided amongst members in proportion to members' of that source. with source are a group's is based on causing some harm, costs should be distributed in proportion with members' with source are the duty is by both and with being as as In this of costs should be for and of costs should be for the costs should be divided members in with their varied levels of and for This is the ‘source-tracking’ answer to the distribution question. is relatively for the States are These are that for and are constituted by of who in their of and in are often into by the decision-making that some members have over the group's decisions the decisions with the of and many decision-making are or These source-tracking just as for the I source-tracking common-sense about the distribution of states' duties. the an to were in the of the of the who the why they should have to to the costs of this the state's in the source-tracking proposal the and the costs to those members who were in the if the in the members' question have a answer: should to the have the capacity to the members an answer that to the of their as This is Yet this numerous that be if source-tracking is to apply to states. The of the One the of the costs of states' duties in proportion to each instantiation of the duty This problem can be is a are of this One is This for states' obligations to alleviate global some states this of through purchasing on that The source-tracking view that of global should bear the costs of the state's fulfilment of the of its duty to alleviate global warming. for if an the harm, that can often be One think this to by to the is a upon in of their the of a costs be of The costs are that are both for capacity and of the is for that state to have both and on duties are if the has a duty to to climate refugees, should this be on source-tracking be should bear the costs of these and so bear costs for the of this just the of being clear about which capacity the is the capacity to and that its duty, the capacity of particular to a state's to is based on and We can a of the of a of the and a of or from will generate some and this as to a source-tracking distribution as is different is that a group's duties will be instantiated by members. In and groups like instantiation like the the source-tracking in states most sources of states' obligations just apply to of this duties are a first the on as a result of This led to an being through no of any consider the of the of the of as a result of a corporate with the of This led to a being in when should have the In the group's duty to be in individuals did what they should have to their in the and they have that they should have did no the costs cannot be these is to how this problem to states. that for groups to be These may be if the are in different at the the should be the in its So we should what constituted the of or the into These did individuals have for and to each to to to to and and so states many members are of just these kinds of These should bear on the source-tracking to wrongdoing-based And matter that states' are often by that are to the in the of to wrongdoing-based duties. an is a of a of that for the of the be to these if their to the wrong did their in the that is an of an of is a second duty source instantiation may in states. can bear associative so associative any having associative This associative is constituted by and and so on. These to have the costs of associative obligations to can be on to members. cannot this several of states' associative have at the These can the individuals and have relatively to each and have and if These can be to and a source-tracking distribution of their states' associative duties. So we should be so to that members will the sources of states' duties. We can each with the that instantiation is the the To the as a to as and when is possible, source-tracking should about the To we to the and for source-tracking in duties in historical as a and will therefore on any of to that a state a wrong or for we can the and that individuals as a result of the the state a wrongdoing-based duty to these no individuals contributed to the The source-tracking is on how the state should the of its duty its members. It the state a duty, but no should bear costs through its fulfilment. The duty is have led recent authors to reject source-tracking for wrongdoing-based duties. As about individuals when we attention to the by states in their citizens' the of source-tracking the costs of states' obligations to this has is to be to those individuals the state who are for its or to the from This to historical wrongdoing-based duties the for any to We for from the for the of or from the States for the on or for that matter from the States for the of the in These are which many at were historical but we for from these is that those who from an distribution of or at in the of is that states' obligations are often what they This is as as that sources are the only sources of states' duties. I that be the of some duties of states. In this no in duties are any demand that members bear costs to the shortfall from duty sources that are In in to costs on we that duty sources are some to the state's duty. We can members to the on the of their of these are the sources have in generating the state's duty. sources often this when and is to the current the state and the of is by as those in which that they the for or in to by those or to be that will be if they in some the that a is generate any duties at are most when have or or and are In duty sources as and will in with duties for the to the relationship, of I this in of states' historical are In the state has a with the The of the to of to of to states of to the or of the to are These are in which sources are instantiated by the they are is a the state and its in the relationship, or the state from being in the has over the or the state has the capacity to the state's duty to its can from a of, or of, if we the of with this is a a state and a in which and are to we are I think we be generating So for the first on wrongdoing-based duties: the state have a duty in this will be a duty to the the state and the The duty to this be in or some of The second has of the state's members have a with the the is or to the of these members the sources that the state's duty, the instantiation of these sources is or to the state's instantiation of these The or and the which or constituted their group's instantiation of duty in are this second to Take the state's to its with that no As and are in that are to the and the as This is by state and by on the One that many can their be if is no to In a is if and This It can be by asking a of and be if the were to on for and that many members of the have in this if they are is a or the at the and at the state both and is by that of state This is state are just who and are by the of those to members of the state the duty sources as the with regard to their duty to their are with through and from the and have a capacity and to the And these sources are the state's instantiation of the clear what for a state to be or a or have some some members being or or having the capacity to their in the of the state's The duty sources the state's duty sources, the are to the So It is therefore for the state to costs on in the discharge of its duty to its with This can be to the This for section associative to from this duty from an associative that an or the any were To the costs of this duty upon I suggest to duty sources or any state's duty to is in the for of as members have moral to these when they and insofar as their to these to the of duty that is in this capacity can be distributed in a source-tracking or capacity to in this with These lay the for which is as we should the source-tracking in section if some source(s) of a state's duty are instantiated by so members that we cannot upon the of the costs for the we should what we can upon these members on the of that source. We should consider sources are to generate a duty to the they we should the of these is, to their the of costs to these As a duty to in to is based in in capacity to and in benefitting from that no member We when and the the duty is and We section source-tracking proposal for this of sources, if and have to generate a duty to the of This the duty sources, and will be only when the duty is We should and the full costs only if the duty sources are in but of the to generate a duty to the And the that may be to any source is subject to a which is by the of that source. The of any source be if are sources that both generate the state's duty and can be to costs to members. some sources are they are the costs that are to the sources will The of this is that to to members to this means that any duty by the sources demand be if those duty sources were in with the source. capacity and can demand only in the they demand if are no individuals who only this duty should be if we at a result in a particular we should consider or or some is in we and can the The of the is to to consider different of this is if are some members who but be to these members with of the Here, we should is on these in with their The source-tracking proposal is about what costs are in as at should be in full for the they with the be for the full these are that we should only of this should be on The should be for capacity and and so to capacity and to is a to the will be to these sources this are for to shortfalls in this way. One is that the duty sources to the strength they have in the of a It is to those The this is I can no to these sources the strength they have of the in a that strength to shortfalls that second is that is to the It to their as and to duty sources that apply to as to on of or or any of and their state or members. In this we can to that about being able to the of costs on members of the by sources they of in some only a of sources' may be will be to by that is, as important as These source-tracking to in a way. will have to be those with about sources' these will have a in In some as that of or and will be of which of sources we to the One to this is that the duty the state discharging is its duty. a shortfall in some since the group's wrongdoing-based duty wrongdoing-based for duties. The state a different a duty, or a duty, or some of the duty that from the particular source. This is in shortfalls the is that should to the full This is what the shortfall problem, as in the from And this is of what duty source we to One for of historical will to in with the for their is of a if that cannot be costs on that will have to is a that is This is a based on a particular or particular or particular or so on. To why or duty for particular and individuals in particular contexts, we will have to to and the will be This from being in with the if the is different from the of having second what if is a shortfall and the duty sources are instantiated by numerous states and their This is in those clear that state the duty in the first with others having duties only if the first state To its and the Yet the and the is to shortfalls that the state has a duty to the relationship, and some of) its members have duties to bear The and duties are based on or This is as as Yet have the capacity to the are most with the and have the most from the we cannot the duty to these states their have duties. this is the wrong in that duty sources to the strength of an moral to perform a particular It be of each duty source that some state its that source the that sources is to the with the moral to their with the members sources, the costs can be distributed in a source-tracking way. This will responsibility at This will is by the most of the We can that has a duty, in capacity the duty, which is in and benefitting It duty is a This to the second in the which the being a in a and having a capacity to that to a or In as in for tend to be on the of to their for This to that capacity to the be capacity to This is with having the capacity to the has that has the duty to the while has the duty to the And that like the These about proposal. we be clear about the of the which or the duty this will which duty sources to which agents, and with what is the the or the the capacity if the and as duty has a duty over their we be that can particular with and which can act as sources of duties to those act in with those or those while be with the and have duties to the on that the to the The to at that particular while have the most from the and so have a duty to or for those particular will have different that a duty to for those particular This to shortfalls the and of to states. It is a which I to to the view that particular state's in is to some duty or of in the is at most a in is when the is a state's source-tracking about states' have to reject And source-tracking to the costs amongst we can the state's duty the how should the costs of duties be distributed amongst when costs be This question that the can be a state's duty that be We can this any the members the are and is with their a duty no costs for members. So that duty this question. This the duty And about the state's duty is to a of duties to the This that source-tracking is, at on as I have it, source-tracking the state's duty has It why are costs that in the first they are the costs for discharging the state's duty. The state's duty why we duty sources of we should those sources that generate the state's duty. And the state's duty why we should duty sources of we should those duty sources that the state The sources may generate but the discharge of those duties to the discharge of any duty of the The duty of the state is to the source-tracking second of source-tracking is that the of duties. is with Take the duty to This duty members being born and and and that should in the distribution of This means the state's duty different in different at the different Yet each distribution is a of duty, which to the state its members. these different distributions into the distributions are by the the distributions include only those who are the state's and the distributions the state to a particular duty on its moral These the different distributions as each being a distribution and the duty of the The state's duty is in the source-tracking at as I have may be the the of) the duties of states and duties as a state has a duty that requires the distribution of costs amongst how should the costs be I have in proportion to the members' of the sources of the state's duty. is to the costs of a state's duty a distribution that sources of the state's in of historical Here, we should that shortfalls matter in that for to if no the source. This that the source is that some duty source is generating the to the The proposal is that we should states' duties as in duty sources that are instantiated by a of and so result in no sources are to generate a duty in a we should consider many states. that sources can we often both in generating states' duties and in source-tracking distributions of those are will be states and individuals who bear duties. I to how this be in The is the is the sources of a state's duty and the sources instantiated by the should be to the costs to be distributed to members. the duty to the state on the of duty which apply to members. This an of duty be for to or how the costs of discharging a state's duty should be are the to to both those to the duty is and those on the costs

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