POLI 203 - chapter 2: the state Flashcards
What is a state?
Political legal unit with sovereignty over a particular territory and the population that resides within its borders.
what is a collective action problem?
clash between individual and collective interests.
what is Hobbes’s problem?
leviathan metaphor: used to symbolize a state tasked with resolving tension between individual interests.
the absence of gov leads to the powerful dominating the weak.
state of nature: life in the anarchic state of nature as, solitary, poor, nasty and short.
what is hobbe’s solution
- social contact: agreement where everyone agrees to limit their ability to do as they please in order to achieve a collective benefit - means consenting to authority that will keep everyone line.
- advocated sovereign authority with absolute powers.
2 characteristics of sovereignty
- centralized decision making - centralized the ability on the way in which resources are allocated - reminding the citizens there is a possibility of coercion.
- coercion - authority of a state to enforce its laws and decision through the threat or use of force.
state vs gov
state:
- provides the foundation for the existence of government
gov:
-authority that acts on the behalf of the state and the right to make decision that everyone in the state.
state vs nation
state:
- political units with sovereignty over territory
- political legal abstraction with objective membership
nation:
- cultural grouping based on shared political identity
- members seek autonomy but lack state-like characteristics.
state vs society:
society:
-voluntary collective action outside of state control.
- Includes organizations, social movements, and interest groups.
- Maintains autonomy and expresses cultural, economic, and political identities.
- Can serve as a check on state power.
- groups that seek to maintain autonomous from the influence of the state.
State:
- Formal political entity with authority over society.
- Can be weakened by inability to control society or rampant corruption.
Why should war and taxes and a political interest in defending territory cause the ride of the modern state only the 1600s in Europe?
3 explanations:
Military context
Changes in military tech gave rulers a powerful incentive to increase military spending (weapons, training, food, housing, clothing and equipment) = raising taxes
Vicious cycle: increase in warfare leads to increase in military expenditures and to an increase in taxation extraction needs, best achieved from a larger territory.
Economic context
Increase in agricultural production improve standards of living and helped support population growth which helped the raising and supporting large armies.
New sources of revenue by expanding, controlling and extracting resources from overseas empires.
Created a use of urban merchants and traders who pursued profit, political stability and security.
Cultural identity context
Challenges of legitimacy of religious authorities and right of kings to rule.
Extracted tax revenue to equip expensive miilitary forces.
Individual self interest replaces notions of predestination
Protestant reformation
Ange of enlightenment
What factors explain the emergence of states in recent decades?
Unable to police their own borders or monopolize means of violence within their territory
Many states have weaker capacity to tax and extract revenue from citizens = corruption
Newer states rarely provide adequate gov services to their citizens
Political interests and late state formation
Military context:
The international order did not contribute to state formation
Lack of military pressure led to political leaders have weaker incentive to increase miliary spending and increase taxation
Economic context
Colonial powers were uninterest in developing legitimate institution in their colonies – only wanted to dominate the locals.
New state were forced to work with the gov institution from colonial authority – di did not have proper gov services so they lack legitimacy.
Cultural identity context
Rulers did could not develop a national identity to enhance state legitimacy cause of the rapidity of decolonization.
Environmental factors contribute to the weakness of late forming state
Difficult terrain weakens state’s capacity to control their own border and police their own territory
Roads are more expensive to build and maintain
The consequences of late state formation
New state rules were only seen as legitimate because they had led successful independence movements.
Weak or failing states
Increased likelihood for corruption and civil wars
What are the differences between state, government, nation, and society?
state:
-Refers to a political entity with defined territorial borders and sovereignty.
- It possesses the legitimate authority to govern and enforce laws within its territory.
- The state represents the institutional framework of governance, including legal systems, political institutions, and administrative bodies.
Government:
- the specific organization or institution within the state that exercises political authority.
- consists of elected or appointed officials who make and implement decisions on behalf of the state.
- Governments can include various branches, such as the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each with specific functions and powers.
Nation:
- group of people who share a common cultural, historical, or ethnic identity.
- Nations may or may not correspond to the boundaries of a state and can exist across multiple states.
Society:
-broader social structure and interactions among individuals within a community.
- includes various social institutions, organizations, and groups that interact and influence one another.
- Society extends beyond the formal structures of the state and government, encompassing informal relationships, norms, and behaviours.
