Public Policy, Politics and Law

Nation states and supranational organisations around the world formulate and implement policies that have an immense impact on sentient nonhuman animals. Parliaments pass laws and governments implement policies with the potential to harm or benefit sentient animals. These laws and policies are decided by a political process that is dominated by political parties. Supranational institutions, such as the European Union, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization also have immense an impact on the wellbeing of sentient nonhumans. Courts can provide oversight for governments to follow due process and pass judgements and sentencing in cases of animal cruelty. ‘Public Policy, Politics, and Law’ focuses on this political and legal sphere of human activity, where law and policies are made that have a substantial impact on animals. To date, public policy, politics, and law are an under-researched domain of study. Since Peter Singer’s seminal Animal Liberation, much has been written on the morality of human and animal interaction. Much less ink, however, has been spilled on how political institutions impact sentient species. The time has now come for a political turn in animal ethics and for academia to put a spotlight on decision making in the public sphere, which has a great impact on billions of sentient animals. The section ‘Public Policy, Politics, and Law’ in Animals provides such an intellectual space to publish quality research in this critical domain of human animal studies.