The role of the state in migration control : : the legitimacy gap and moves towards a regional model / / by Aoife McMahon.

• Superior document: Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy in Europe, Volume 40
• VerfasserIn: McMahon, Aoife (Lawyer),
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, [The Netherlands] ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill Nijhoff,, 2017.; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Immigration and asylum law and policy in Europe ; Volume 40.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (320 pages).
• Notes: Based on author's thesis (doctoral - Trinity College Dublin), 2015.

This research questions the seemingly ossified premise that states have an absolute discretion to control international migration. Applying Max Weber’s theories of legitimacy, it determines that while states have certain traditionally legitimate functions, migration control, as distinct from the determination of citizenship, is not one such function. Measures of migration control must thus be justified on a rational-legal basis, that is, on a minimal evidential basis. Acknowledging the many obstacles states face in carrying out this legitimising exercise, it is suggested that a supranational approach at the regional level is the most sustainable long-term model, with an ultimate aim of achieving inter-regional cooperation on migration management on the basis of equality between regions.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- The Concept of the State and Its Justification -- The Development of State Control of Migration -- Limits on State Control -- Defining the Object of Control -- The Legitimacy of State Control -- Obstacles to Legitimising State Control -- Moving beyond the Status Quo -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.