Perspectives on the State

Question 1

PERSPECTIVES ON THE STATE

Answer 1

Political association that has sovereign jurisdiction within a defined territorial area

Question 2

LIBERAL

Answer 2

The state is a necessary evil

Question 3

Locke

Answer 3

State is a neutral arbiter/’nightwatchman’

Question 4

Hobbes

Answer 4

Sovereign Leviathan – without a state life would be ‘nasty, brutish and short’

Question 5

Rawls

Answer 5

Social contract based on tacit consent rather than active consent. Veil of ignorance.

Question 6

MARXIST

Answer 6

State is a means by which class oppression is achieved

Question 7

Marx

Answer 7

The state could be used in a ‘revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat’ in the transition from communism to capitalism. If class antagonisms disappeared, state no longer has a reason to exist

Question 8

Lenin

Answer 8

State is an instrument for the ‘oppression of the working class’

Question 9

Gramsci

Answer 9

Domination of the ruling class achieved through open coercion but the elicitation of consent – state plays an important part in the established ideological hegemony

Question 10

Poulantzas (neo-marxist)

Answer 10

The state a ‘unifying social formation’ capable of diluting class tensions through the spread of political rights and welfare benefits - Still class focus

Question 11

Ralph Miliband

Answer 11

State simply an instrument of the ruling class. It would favour capitalism as the elite of the state came from the privileged and those with property

Question 12

Engels

Answer 12

‘the executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie’

Question 13

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST

Answer 13

The state is able to step in and deal with injustices within the class system

Question 14

Rousseau

Answer 14

Political obligation derives from common interest

Question 15

Bob Jessop

Answer 15

State a dynamic entity that could change to reflect the balance of power at any time and its nature reflects whatever struggle is going on in society

Question 16

CONSERVATIVE

Answer 16

Strong state protects society from disorder

Question 17

Burke

Answer 17

Political obligation seen as a natural duty – society held together by a set of mutual obligations and responsbilities

Question 18

Hobbes

Answer 18

Leviathan state

Question 19

Britten

Answer 19

Democratic process encourages politicians to outbid one another by making vote-winning promises to the electorate (populism)

Question 20

FEMINIST

Answer 20

The state is patriarchal and aims to exclude women

Question 21

Friedan

Answer 21

Liberal - If political equality does not exist the state is biased towards men. However state is essentially neutral and over time inequality can be overcome by reform – all groups equal access to state power

Question 22

Firestone

Answer 22

Radical - State exercises a monopoly of legitimate violence imposing male domination in all aspects of life. Merely a tool that men use to ensure patriarchy continues

Question 23

ANARCHIST

Answer 23

The state is a form of legalised oppression that is ran by a ruling elite

Question 24

Bakunin

Answer 24

State is the ‘most flagrant, most cynical and the most complete negation of humanity’

Question 25

Kropotkin

Answer 25

Capitalism and the state are interlinked obstacles to humankind’s natural sociability

Question 26

PLURALIST

Answer 26

State is an honest broker that mediates various interests through the electoral system

Question 27

Schwarzmantel

Answer 27

‘the state is a servant of society not its master’

Question 28

NEO-PLURALIST

Answer 28

Modern state is less responsive to popular pressures than the classical pluralist model suggests

Question 29

Lindblom

Answer 29

Business is able to shape public tastes and wants through the power of advertising and big business is able to dominate small business

Question 30

Galbraith

Answer 30

As the major investor and largest employer in society, business is bound to exercise considerable sway over any government