Civil disobedience and state anxiety

Political philosophers writing about civil disobedience have tended to neglect the anxiety of the state about such disobedience. I identify three components of state anxiety – Contagion, Fragility, Value – concerning the contagiousness of disobedience, and the fragility and value of public institutions. I argue that state anxiety can be substantiated or specious, depending on the plausibility of Contagion and Fragility. It can also be significant or trivial, depending on the plausibility of Value. Finally, and focusing on John Rawls’ influential discussions of civil disobedience, I show how political philosophising can mirror state anxiety about disobedience and, in doing so, bolster it.