Panarchism
Encyclopedia
Panarchism is a political philosophy
emphasizing each individual
's right to freely join and leave the jurisdiction of any governments they choose, without being forced to move from their current locale. The word "panarchy
" was invented and the concept proposed by a Belgian
political economist, Paul Émile de Puydt
in an article called "Panarchy" published in 1860. The word "panarchy" has since taken on additional, separate meanings, with the word "panarchism" referring to the original definition by de Puydt.
De Puydt, a proponent of laissez-faire economics, wrote that "governmental competition" would allow "as many regularly competing governments as have ever been conceived and will ever be invented" to exist simultaneously and detailed how such a system would be implemented. As David M. Hart writes: "Governments would become political churches, only having jurisdiction over their congregations who had elected to become members."
Panarchism has been embraced by some socialist, anarchist and libertarian
-leaning individuals, including some of those promoting secession
from existing states and those advocating creation of new micronations. Max Nettlau
in the early 1900s and John Zube
in the latter part of the century wrote extensively on the concept in articles found on Panarchy.Org.
Two similar ideas are "Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdictions" (FOCJ
) advocated by Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger and “multigovernment” advocated by Le Grand E. Day and others.
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
emphasizing each individual
Individual
An individual is a person or any specific object or thing in a collection. Individuality is the state or quality of being an individual; a person separate from other persons and possessing his or her own needs, goals, and desires. Being self expressive...
's right to freely join and leave the jurisdiction of any governments they choose, without being forced to move from their current locale. The word "panarchy
Panarchy
Panarchy is a conceptual term first coined by the Belgian botanist and economist Paul Emile de Puydt in 1860, referring to a specific form of governance that would encompass all others. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the noun as "chiefly poetic" with the meaning "a universal realm," citing...
" was invented and the concept proposed by a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
political economist, Paul Émile de Puydt
Paul Émile de Puydt
Paul Émile de Puydt , a writer whose contributions included work in botany and economics, was born and died in Mons, Belgium.As a botanist, he notably wrote on orchids...
in an article called "Panarchy" published in 1860. The word "panarchy" has since taken on additional, separate meanings, with the word "panarchism" referring to the original definition by de Puydt.
De Puydt, a proponent of laissez-faire economics, wrote that "governmental competition" would allow "as many regularly competing governments as have ever been conceived and will ever be invented" to exist simultaneously and detailed how such a system would be implemented. As David M. Hart writes: "Governments would become political churches, only having jurisdiction over their congregations who had elected to become members."
Panarchism has been embraced by some socialist, anarchist and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
-leaning individuals, including some of those promoting secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from existing states and those advocating creation of new micronations. Max Nettlau
Max Nettlau
Max Heinrich Hermann Reinhardt Nettlau was a German anarchist and historian. Although born in Neuwaldegg and raised in Vienna he retained his Prussian nationality throughout his life. A student of the Welsh language he spent time in London where he joined the Socialist League where he met...
in the early 1900s and John Zube
John Zube
John Zube is a German-Australian libertarian activist and founder of the Libertarian Microfiche Publishing project.Born in Germany, Zube was introduced to libertarianism by his father, Kurt Zube, a prominent individualist anarchist persecuted under the Nazis...
in the latter part of the century wrote extensively on the concept in articles found on Panarchy.Org.
Two similar ideas are "Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdictions" (FOCJ
FOCJ
Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdictions is a moderate form of panarchy advocated by Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger....
) advocated by Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger and “multigovernment” advocated by Le Grand E. Day and others.
See also
- Adversarial systemAdversarial systemThe adversarial system is a legal system where two advocates represent their parties' positions before an impartial person or group of people, usually a jury or judge, who attempt to determine the truth of the case...
- Anarchist lawAnarchist lawAnarchist law is a hypothetical body of norms regarding behavior and decision making that might be operative in an anarchist community. The term is used in a series of ongoing debates within the various branches of anarchist theory regarding if and how norms of individual and/or collective...
- AutonomismAutonomismAutonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. As an identifiable theoretical system it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerist communism...
- Open source governanceOpen source governanceOpen-source governance is a political philosophy which advocates the application of the philosophies of the open-source and open-content movements to democratic principles in order to enable any interested citizen to add to the creation of policy, as with a wiki document. Legislation is...
- Polycentric lawPolycentric lawPolycentric law is a legal structure in which providers of legal systems compete or overlap in a given jurisdiction, as opposed to monopolistic statutory law according to which there is a sole provider of law for each jurisdiction. Devolution of this monopoly occurs by the principle of...
- Jurisdictional arbitrageJurisdictional arbitrageJurisdictional arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of the discrepancies between competing legal jurisdictions. It takes its name from arbitrage, the practice in finance of purchasing a good at a lower price in one market and selling it at a higher price in another...
- Sui iurisSui iurisSui iuris, commonly also spelled sui juris, is a Latin phrase that literally means “of one’s own laws”.-Secular law:In civil law the phrase sui juris indicates legal competence, the capacity to manage one’s own affairs...
- VoluntaryismVoluntaryismVoluntarism, or voluntaryism, is a philosophy according to which all forms of human association should be voluntary. This moral principle is called the non-aggression principle, which prohibits the initiation of aggressive force or coercion...
External links
- Panarchy.org – original usage of the word "panarchy"
- Panarchism.info – the full philosophy (oldest site, "The Exterritorial Imperative")
- Panarchists.org – ongoing discussion of panarchy.
- Why I Am a Panarchist – A famous article from a libertarianLibertarianismLibertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
perspective, by Michael S. Rozeff - Some Notes For A Talk On Panarchism to Anarchists by John Zube
- Panarchy South Jersey – a local activist group.