V3

Question 1

State: Definition

Answer 1

Samuels: a political‐legal unit with sovereignty over a particular geographic territory and the population that resides within its borders

Weber: human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory

Question 2

States: Importance to comparative politics

Answer 2

states are key players
borders are fault lines of conflict
independence and secession
developments: transnational NGOs, supranational institutions

Question 3

collective action problem

Answer 3

cooperation:
collective benefit
individual costs
benefits are non-excludable, incentive to defect
(protest movements, rebel groups, shared flat)

Question 4

States: Hobbes

Answer 4

state of nature: solitary,poor,nasty,brutish and short” (»Homo homini lupus«)

solution: social contract, individuals consent to being coerced

Question 5

States: Tilly

Answer 5

predatory theory of rule:
rulers behave as they would in state of nature
use comparative advantage in violence
state can exploit and protect citizens
(marxist theory)

Question 6

Weber: Key Features of a State

Answer 6

monopoly of legitimate use of force
territoriality
sovereignty
plurality
relation with population

Question 7

Lukes & Gaventa: Faces of Power

Answer 7

1. influence on decisions
2. mobilization bias
3. manipulation of interests and preferences

Question 8

State v Government

Answer 8

G = body S= soul

Question 9

State v Nation

Answer 9

S = no necessary common identity
N = based on religion, language, territory, imagined common descent

Question 10

Nationalism

Answer 10

state should be congruent with nation
rise:
Geller: need for vertical integration of lower and upper classes (industrialisation)
Anderson: establishing national identity through common language (state schooling)

Question 11

State v Society

Answer 11

Society: voluntary collective, cultural/political identities independent of the state

Question 12

birth of the modern state

Answer 12

1648: Treaty of Westphalia
decline in importance of traditional legitimacy
clear territorial boundaries
increased organisational capacity

Question 13

State formation: Tilly

Answer 13

need for larger armies

Question 14

State formation: Economic dimension

Answer 14

rulers incentive for capitalist growth of economy

Question 15

State formation: Enlightenment and Reformation

Answer 15

increased importance of individual self-interest

Question 16

Why new states are weak

Answer 16

deficits in the metiers of
taxation
service provision
policing

Question 17

reasons for weakness of new states

Answer 17

cold war: no need for strong states
economic: colonial heritage
arbitrary boundaries
natural environment

Question 18

State Fragility Index

Answer 18

Dimensions: Cohesion, economics, politics, social, external

measures: coercion, compliance