Self-Determination Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Self-determination is a legal or philosophical principle that embodies the right of peoples or nations to choose how they live their collective lives and structure their communities based on their own norms, laws, and cultures. It is the fundamental human right to control or affect one’s choices, life, and destiny. According to S. James Anaya (1993), five fundamental characteristics are embodied in self-determination: freedom from discrimination; respect for cultural integrity; social welfare and development; lands and natural resources; and self-government.

External self-determination involves independent statehood, including recognition as a nation under international law, provided that the nation in question has a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capability of entering into relations with other states. Internal self-determination includes those rights that support and preserve cultural difference, economic self-sufficiency, and political autonomy, including self-government and various forms of democratic, political, and representative rights. The latter is limited to self-determination within states and thus does not require attempts at secession or absolute political independence. However, there is still the potential for conflict in areas of overlapping jurisdictional authority, especially in the context of substate national groups who seek to achieve self-determination.

Bibliography:

James Anaya. “A Contemporary Definition of the International Norm of Self-determination.” Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems 3 (1993): 131–164.

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