Ett rättfärdigt felande? Om civil olydnad inom den demokratiska staten

Sammanfattning: Civil disobedience constitutes an interesting ethical phenomena in the democratic state since the people performing it consciously brakes laws and norms in society for purposes they themselves judge to be morally good and just. This thesis examines whether the phenomena of civil disobedience is justifiable in a democratic society. In this study civil disobedience is analyzed on two levels. First the problem is analyzed on a theoretical level in relative to the three, by us established, values: respect for the law, the will of the majority and equality. Second, civil disobedience is analyzed on a more practical level where we test our theoretical line of argument with the help of two example groups who engages in civil disobedience. The justification of civil disobedience is also analyzed through two ethical perspectives on acting, deontology and consequentialism. Our conclusion is that civil disobedience is justifiable on a theoretical level in relative to the values we discuss. The justification on a more practical level seems to offer more difficulties since the people who practice civil disobedience have to be able to support their actions with solid arguments, something our example groups occasionally failed to do. In our conclusion we also find that consequentialism appears better suited to justify civil disobedience than deontology.