ABSTRACT
Liberal democracies are predicated on popular sovereignty - the ideal of government for and by the People. Throughout the developed world indigenous peoples continue to deny legitimacy to otherwise popular governments because their consent has never been sought. Using examples from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA, this book tackles the problem of democratic legitimation from the perspective of indigenous peoples, arguing that having suffered conquest, these people cannot be said to consent until conditions for their consent have been realised. These conditions include constitutional change that recognizes indigenous law as the 'law of the land' - a radical proposal going far beyond the current limits of self-determination.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |9 pages
Introduction
part One|30 pages
Nations Within
chapter Chapter 1|11 pages
We are only Demanding our Country
chapter Chapter 2|16 pages
Playing with the Umpire
part Two|45 pages
Long Live the King!
chapter Chapter 3|14 pages
Long Live the King!
chapter Chapter 4|13 pages
The Act of State
chapter Chapter 5|15 pages
State and Nation
part Three|51 pages
Born to Rule
chapter Chapter 6|16 pages
We the People
chapter Chapter 7|10 pages
Imagining the People
chapter Chapter 8|11 pages
The Appeal to Heaven
chapter Chapter 9|11 pages
Born to Rule
part Four|35 pages
Indigenous Sovereignty