Comparative Government and Politics - The State

Question 1

what is the state

Answer 1

the legal and political authority of a territory containing a population and marked by borders

Question 2

what is sovereignty

Answer 2

the ultimate source of authority in a society. The sovereign is the highest and final decision-maker within a community

Question 3

what is a citizen

Answer 3

a full member of a state, entitled to the rights and subject to the duties associated with that status. Citizenship is typically confirmed in a document such as a passport or identity card

Question 4

what is the Westphalian system

Answer 4

the modern state system that many believe emerged out of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, based on the sovereignty of states and political self-determination

Question 5

what are natural rights

Answer 5

those rights (such as to life, liberty, and property) supposedly given to humans by God or by nature, their existence taken to be independent of government

Question 6

what is total war

Answer 6

war requiring the mobilisation of the population to support a conflict fought with advanced weaponry on a large geographical scale, requiring state leadership, intervention, and funding

Question 7

what is the welfare state

Answer 7

an arrangement in which the government is primarily responsible for the social and economic security of its citizens through public programmes such as incomes for the unemployed, pensions for the elderly, and medical care for the sick

Question 8

what are micro-states

Answer 8

states that are small in both population and territory. Examples include, Andorra, Barbados, Palau, and the Maldives.

Question 9

what are quasi-states

Answer 9

states that exist and are recognised under international law but whose governments control little of the territory under their jurisdiction

Question 10

what are de facto states

Answer 10

states that are not recognised under international law even though they control territory and provide governance. They exist in fact (de facto) rather than under law (de jure)

Question 11

what is a nation

Answer 11

a cultural and historical concept describing a group of people who identify with one another on the basis of a shared history, culture, language, or myths

Question 12

what is self determination

Answer 12

the ability to act without external compulsion. The right of national self-determination is the right of a people to possess its own government, democratic or otherwise

Question 13

what is nationalism

Answer 13

the belief that a group of people with a common national identity (usually marked by a shared culture and history) has the right to form an independent state and to govern itself free of external intervention

Question 14

what is a nation state

Answer 14

a sovereign political association whose citizens share a common national identity

Question 15

what is multinational state

Answer 15

a state consisting of multiple different national groups under a single government

Question 16

what is regional integration

Answer 16

the process by which states build economic and political ties that result in some pooling of authority over areas of policy where they believe that cooperation is better than competition

Question 17

what is a security state

Answer 17

a state that makes efforts to follow the activities of its citizens through such means as closed-circuit television and the monitoring of phone calls and internet use

Question 18

What is an intergovernmental organisation

Answer 18

cooperative bodies whose members are states that are established by treaty possess a permanent secretariat and legal identity and operate according to stated rules and with some autonomy

Question 19

what is a failing state

Answer 19

a state with weak governing institutions, often deep internal divisions, and where the basic needs of people are no longer met. Examples include Eritrea, Haiti, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen