2. Forms of State Flashcards
Define form of state
the relationship between the State (constitutional bodies) and the people
set of values and principles that guide the State’s actions => relationship between people and state
Methods of classifying forms of state
- diachronic method (chronological succession, sees how states evolve through time)
- synchronic method (degree of centralisation)
Diachronic method of classification
- feudal system
- absolute State
- liberal State
- democratic pluralistic State
- (sub category) welfare State
- totalitarian/authoritarian State
- socialist State
Characteristics of Feudal system
not properly a form of State because:
- of the total identification of the feudal lord (or the King) with the property of the land - entitled to actions imposed on property (e.g. divide land for sons)
- it was organised on the basis of private agreements, contracts between individuals
- the sole aim was the protection the land and its related possessions (including the peasants) from external attacks.
Characteristics of Absolute state
- determined by progressive unification of certain territories under power of a monarch
- occurred in England, France and Spain
- individual liberty expanded
- Two power shifts play a key role in the move from feudalism to an absolute State:
- the shift of power from the feudal lords to the King (and thus the stabilisation of monarchical authority);
- the shift of power from land to money.
- Sovereign power resides in the King.
- Typical absolute State is Louis XIV’s France.
Absolute state and its relation to Magna Carta
- Clause 12: “No scutage nor aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter; and for these there shall not be levied more than a reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be done concerning aids from the city of London”
- Clause 39: “No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in anyway destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land”.
- Clause 40: “To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice”
- => first clause showcase sovereign power of the kind and last 2 clauses display expansion of individual liberty
Passage from absolute to liberal state
- gradual (UK and US);
- violent (France) - bourgeois wanted to take part in ruling => revolution
- top-down (Germany and Italy).
Characteristics of liberal state
- a strong separation between the State and society;
- the protection of rights and freedoms;
- the rule of law;
- “minimum state” i.e. with a limited number of functions;
- popular or national sovereignty;
- representative government;
- the principle of separation of powers.
Key note about liberal state
- Some classes weren’t allowed to vote - limited suffrage
- 3% of the population could vote
- a threshold - if onnly pay an amount to gov can vote
- expand rights to vote -> lower threshold
- a new criteria based on education was introduced
- => universal suffrage => emerges different state
What emerges from Liberal state?
crisis of the Liberal State emerged:
- democratic pluralistic State (natural dev from liberal state, an expanded liberal state with similar shared principles)
- totalitarian/authoritarian State (contrary to liberal state, eliminate all founding principles of liberal state
- socialist State
mainly because did not meet the needs of the lower class => collapse of multi-class society
Characteristics of democratic pluralistic state
- the passage to a multi-class society;
- the creation of mass parties;
- the recognition not only of liberal first generation rights, but also second generation social and economic rights.
especially after WWII, some countries in europe adopted a particular type of democratic pluralistic state known as welfare state
Positive rights and the state
In order to have full enjoyment, the state needs to intervene:
- protection of disadvantaged
positive here implies increasing welfare
Welfare state and constitution
First constitution committed to social and econ rights was Weimar of 1919
e.g. maternity protected by state
equal opp for illegitimate children
cooperation between employees and employers
Beveridge report in 1942 in UK
- starting point of welfare state
- It advocated social policy and helping people in need and
opposed ignorance through education and promoted healthcare in the fight against disease. - In this State, people in need would receive services free of charge and people with income would pay taxes relative to their income.
- social insurance is only one part of a comprehensive policy of social progress
- policies of social security must be achieved by cooperation between the state and the individual with the state securing the service and contributions
Waves of democratisation
- immediately after WWII:
- Japan (1947)
- Italy (1948)
- Germany (1949)
- decolonisation:
- India (1950)
- Mediterranean area:
- Greece (1974)
- Portugal (1976)
- Spain (1978)
- South America:
- Argentina (1983)
- Chile (1988)
- transition in Eastern Europe after the collapse of
the Soviet Union - the Arab Spring which led to some important reforms in
some Arab and African countries.
