Lektion 2: Nation state Flashcards
What is the state?
! Monopoly of legitimate violence ! Territoriality
! Sovereignty
! Plurality
! The people
what is Monopoly of violence
! Single centre of power
! Obedience and binding policies
! No individual use of violence
! Enforcement requires infrastructure
What is the Territoriality
! Defined territory
! Demarcation of states monopoly of power
! Defence as main state task
! States do not collapse if borders change
What is the Sovereignty
! State as ultimate authority ! Principle of non-intervention ! Exception: war and conquest ! Disputed criterion: ! Supranational organisations ! Economic interdependence
What is the Plurality
! Borders imply neighbours
! Plurality of sovereign states
! Potential threats
! Have to enter relations
What is the People
! States rule and consist of people
! Ruler-people relationship grounded in violence
! Factual membership
! Ideational membership
What is the three phases of state development
Consolidation of rule
Rationalisation of rule
Expansion of rule
What is the Consolidation
! 12th to 17th century ! Defining state territories ! Mostly driven by war and conquest ! ‘Premium on size’ ! Produced relatively stable political map
What is the Rationalisation
! Concerns internal power relation ! Creating political centre ! Absolutism important step towards modern state ! Professional bureaucracies ! Increase states’ capacity
What is the Expansion
! States tend to grow ! More money, staff and functions ! Bureaucracies’ inherent tendency ! Transition to representative government ! Social change
What is the State-society differentiation?
! States constrained to political activity
! Withdrawal from two spheres
- Religion
- Economy
How does the Public sphere participate
! Intermediate level between state and society
! Depends on state-protected institutions
! Related to idea of representative government
! Expansion of democratic participation
What is the Citizenship
! Equal rights and duties ! Progressive extension since 17th century 1. Civil rights: 2. Political rights 3. Social rights
What is the Nationhood
! Imagined community ! Trust,belonging,pride,solidarity ! Powerful political concept ! Nationhood can precede states ! ...but is also promoted by existing states ! Nation-state recent phenomenon
Which components does Giddens say Globalisation contain?
: economic, cultural & political
“intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away” (Giddens)
How can the gloabalisation influence the state?
Widespread concern about weakening of state
But not undisputed!
Potential consequences for:
- Sovereignty
- National economy
- Nationhood
How can Global influence the sovereignty
! Principle of non-intervention remains important
! Trend towards multi-level governance
! Not forced upon states!
! Costs and benefits can change
! Sovereignty is not hollowed out, but transformed
How can Global influence the nationhood
! Does nationhood lose importance?
! New trans-national identities?
! Resistance identity?
How can Global influence the economy
! Lower capacity to intervene in economy
! Capital mobility
! More difficult to tax and to regulate
! Economies not self-sustained but interdependent
! Can heavily constrain governments’ decisions
Kendetegn ved Weak post-colonial states
! Low capacity and resources
! Ethnically fragmented
! Few constraints for elites
! Often leads to
! Lacking monopoly of violence and control over territory
! Inability to provide public services
! Inability to make legitimate collective decisions
How is the Sovereignty in post-colonial state
! Only formally sovereign
! Dependence on economic aid and donors
! Military (humanitarian) interventions in case of breakdown
! Recent examples: Mali, Iraq, Afghanistan
Conclusion: What is The concept of the state
! State concept as ideal type
! Strongly inspired by Western history
! Continuum from ‘failed’ to highly effective Western states
! Globalisation does not challenge the state as such
! Important changes for sovereignty
! Possibly for nationhood
! Most tangible for relationship between state and economy