Sovereignty today (Lecture 4)

Question 1

Give the definition of sovereignty and the 2 aspects

Answer 1

-Juridiction over a territory
-Exhaustive competencies
-In a body of government
2 aspects
-internal: crime, citizen, economy
-International: non intervention

Question 2

what are the medieval and renaissance views on authority

Answer 2

medieval:
kings have sacred authority, they must pursue the common good otherwise tyrant
Renaissance:
Rulers can be shrewd as long as they serve the community ( no bad or good in itself), can’t consider rulers as tyrant

Question 3

What is absolutism and what are the consequences

Answer 3

Def: kings have their authority from god
Church state= monarch decides the state religion
Reduction of the rights

Question 4

What is the treaty of Westphalia and date

Answer 4

1648
treaty against agression and invasion= a civilized nation respect other nations
recent version is : Non intervention (1945) UN

Question 5

According to Spruyt what is a modern state

Answer 5

Modern states
from 7th century: armies and increasing ability of state to intervene in society
13th century: roman laws, market economy, personalistic ties
19th century: subjects became citizens, territorial states become nation states

Question 6

According to Spruyt what is a Premodern states

Answer 6

Premodern states
only weakly defined markets econ and property rights
only material frontier recognised, no mutually acknowledges borders

Question 7

Why is state formation difficult to situate in time? Explain depending on the criterion when modern states emerged and give your personal opinion

Answer 7

• The effect of war-making/military: emergence of standing armies > expansion royal
  administration and increase in tax > more power royals
• Economic: emergence of (absolute) states with capitalism
  1) dispersion of political authority over multiple states prevented exploitation of trade,
  2) changing demographic and dispersed political authority meant that labour could seek
  less repressive means of production and
  3) because rulers had a vested interest in enhancing their economies, they also had a stake in defending private wealth

Question 8

To what extent is the theory of Charles Tilly different from modern institutionalist theories on the emergence of states?

Answer 8

Tilly: states are formed through violence (war)
focused on the mentality of ruler

Institutionalist: focuses on the advantage of modern state