Chapter 2: The State (Comparative Politics)

Question 1

The State

Answer 1

A political legal unit with sovereignty over a particular geographic territory and the population that resides in that territory

Question 2

sovereignty

Answer 2

ultimate responsibility for legal authority over the conduct of international affairs, including a claim on monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force– within territory defined by geographic borders.

Question 3

Failed state

Answer 3

a state where sovereignty over claims territory has collapsed or was never effectivlry established at all

Question 4

legitimacy

Answer 4

the degree to which citizens willingly accept the state’s sovereign authority to use power.

Question 5

Thomas Hobbes (Levithan) & state of nature

Answer 5

Term coined to describe an imaginary time before human beings organized into governments or states for the collective good. A state creates order out of chaos

Question 6

Social Contract

Answer 6

A theoretical political agreement in which everyone agrees to limit their ability to do as they please in order to achieve some collective benefit

Question 7

Government

Answer 7

The organization that has the authority to act on behalf of a state, and the right to make decisions that affect everyone in a state

Question 8

nation

Answer 8

a cultural grouping of individuals who associate with each other based on a collectively held political identity

Question 9

nationalism

Answer 9

a subjective feeling of membership to a nation

Question 10

Society

Answer 10

A term for all organized groups, social movements, interest groups, and individuals who attempt to remain autonomous from the influence and authority of the state

Question 11

Feudalism

Answer 11

A form of political organization in which no single political entity or ruler held ambiguous territorial sovereignty and in which police rule involved multiple and often overlapping lines of authority