week 1 inter.

Question 1

3 patterns and appearances of states

Answer 1

1. transformation: states rising from existing independent political units, mainly medieval monarchies (France)
2. unification: states rising from unification of independent but scattered political units (Germany, Italy)
3. secession: states rising from the break up of independent political units into one or more states (Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary)

Question 2

Seymour Martin Lipset on democracy

Answer 2

He suggests common characteristics of democracy:
- competition for government positions that are filled by citizens through fair elections occurring regularly and without use of force or exclusion of social group
- citizen participation
- civil and political liberties to ensure the integrity of political competition and participation

Question 3

four approaches to relationship between state and society

Answer 3

1. state supremacy: dominance of state over society based on legal theories that stress sovereignty
2. state dependency: state is dependent on society.
3. interdependency: modern state has become deeply involved in social and economic regulation
4. separation and autonomy: state and society as distinct and autonomous with own rules, developments and logic

Question 4

Stein Rokkan’ s theory

Answer 4

1. state formation (penetration): elites take interest in unification and centralization of a given territory.
2. National building (standardization): aim to create common identy (also elite-driven)
3. mass democracies (equalization): the masses conquer the right to participate in governmental decision-making. this created democratic states where political parties were creayed to link citizens with elites in assemblies
4. welfare states (redistribution): strengthens economic solidarity between population