Political Theory and the Child: Problems of the Individualist Tradition

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Abstract
Consideration of the status and treatment of the child is a legitimate concern of political theory, and may lead to reappraisal of some commonly deployed arguments. Several respects are indicated in which decisions taken by adults and affecting children may properly be considered political. More specifically, it is argued that (i) anarchist theory; (ii) Nozick's arguments in Anarchy, State and Utopia; and (iii) consent theories of political obligation run into difficulties when the place of children is considered. The argument points, under (i) and (ii), to putative lines of justification of the state; and under (iii) to the conclusion, contrary to common assumption, that those who have not yet attained sufficient understanding to be considered as consenting are not morally obliged to obey the state's laws and agents.

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