“The Sovereign Citizen Movement: A threat to the democratic legal order of the Netherlands?”
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2024-11-30
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en
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This thesis aimed to respond to increasing concerns about a growing group of so-called ‘sovereign citizens’ in the Netherlands. By systematically examining the views, strategies, and motivations of Dutch sovereign citizens, it is attempted to take a first step toward developing an academic basis for future research. The lack of knowledge about the seemingly extremist sovereign citizen movement makes this study both academically and societally relevant. Embedded in social movement theory, this study applies the lens of framing, following the methods of Snow and Benford (1988). This reveals not only the ideas, strategies, and motivations of sovereign citizens but also how these components relate to the movement’s mobilization potential.
The study reveals that sovereign citizens argue the illegitimacy of the state and its institutions based on pseudo-legalist theories entangled with a conceptualization of the state as a criminal organization, enterprise, or conspiracy by malevolent actors. While the direct threat from the movement seems limited, the sovereign narrative undermines the democratic legal order in the long run. Moreover, the movement has great growth potential, as the frames are inclusive, easily adaptable to socio-political developments, and center around perceived injustices.
Keywords: Sovereign citizen movement, SovCits, social movement theory, framing, anti-institutional extremism, mobilization
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen