Is State Law true Law?

In the effort of defining law, legal philosophers tend to assume State law as the inevitable paradigm of the legal phenomenon and to derive from it the normative features of law. On the contrary, this contribution proceeds from a critical approach, sensible to the evolution and differentiation of law, that brings out some common assumptions not explicitly examined. The aim of this work is threefold: resizing the centrality of the State model of law but recognizing its peculiarity; testing the possibility of looking at jus gentium as the central case of law being it more suitable to grasp the differentiation of law in a globalized context; and emphasizing some crucial features of law that the State model tends to misconceive and are useful to contribute to a participatory reading of globalization. The outcome of this reflection is not only becoming aware of the State paradigm’s specificities and limits, but also the possibility of identifying some core elements of law as new potentials for increasing the scope of participation within and beyond domestic borders.