The State

• Difficult term for most Americans

• Tend to think of local government—this a function of federalism and early confederation

• Instead, we are thinking of centralized authority

Defining the State

• Max Weber: monopoly of violence over a given territory

• Sovereignty – ability to carry out actions independently of internal/external challengers

• State is thus institution that wields force to ensure order within and resistance to threats from without

Are States Just Rackets?

Not unlike organized crime!

• Provide protection

• Demand payment

• Punish violators

• Adjudicate disputes

• Battle rivals

States Make Policy

• Laws and regulations• Property rights• Health and labor protections• Social welfare

Unlike criminal rackets, states turn ideas into political practice and the state is valued for its own sake

The state creates standards through which public goals such as freedom and equality can be achieved

States and Regimes

How is a regime different from a state?

• Regimes as the fundamental rules and norms of politics

• Long-term goals regarding freedom and equality

• Where should power reside? How should it be used?

Ways in which Regimes Differ

• Democratic or authoritarian: How different?

• United States versus Canada: How different?

• Can trace these differences in constitutions, but also in informal practices and rules

Regimes as Institutions

• Often institutionalized

• Not easily changed

• Dramatic events, revolutions or crises, removal by war: “regime change” (Iraq)

• Sometimes not institutionalized, leader operates as she or he sees fit: “L’État, c’est moi” (Louis XIV—“I am the State”)

States and Regimes, Hardware and Software

• States as machinery or computer of politics

• Regimes as political “software,” setting the basic range of actions for the computer

• Each state is “programmed” differently

What Is Government?

• The leadership in charge of running the state

• The operator of the hardware and software!

• May be democratic or undemocratic

• Weakly institutionalized—removed by public, by force, by mortality…

Figure 2-1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STATE, REGIME, AND GOVERNMENT

Origins of Political Organization

Where did states come from?

Did not exist for vast majority of human history:

• Tribes

• City-states

• Empires

Now only states rule the earth. Why?

Early Political Organization

• Nomadic groups become sedentary—agriculture

• Creation of surplus, specialization

• Creation of inequality

• Growth in population

• Need to resolve dilemmas of freedom and equality—had not existed before

Emergence of Political Organization

• Make and enforce rules

• Mechanism to solve conflict

• Set collective goals

Development of societies required political organization

Finding balance between freedom and equality led to questions of who should have power and how they should wield it

Consensus or Coercion?

• Consensus: social contract between rulers and ruled (Hobbes)

• Coercion: rise of the state and institutions created inequality and harmed social balance (Rousseau)

• Both are true, depending on time and place

Is political organization the result of public consensus (bottom-up) or elite coercion (top-down)?

Pre-state Societies

• Some scholars claim that the rise of the organized state led to increased violence

• New research shows that in pre-state human groups, constant warfare and violence was endemic

• States reduce warfare, increase protection, decrease violence, and gain legitimacy

The Rise of the Modern State

Arose in Europe in Middle Ages. Why?

Roman Empire the first modern state

• Political organization

• Infrastructure (roads, aqueducts)

• Trade

Collapse of Roman Empire: “Dark Ages,” 500–1000 C.E.

• Europe fragmented into many rival territories with no central authority

• Decline of basic political, economic, social institutions

Figure 2-2 EUROPE IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY

Dark Ages and Political Change

• Hypercompetitive environment

• Constant warfare, rapid organization evolution

• Small states emerge as warlords consolidate territory

• Also shaped by geography—hard to unify Europe (unlike China)

The Advantages of States

• Encouraged economic development as way to gain revenue, fight rivals

• Encouraged technological innovation or application for same reason—gunpowder, cartography

• Homogenization of peoples within territories—common language, customs, identity (a nation)

European States Expand Outward

• Remove rivals in Europe (such as Catholic Church)

• Begin to voyage outside of Europe for new markets and resources

• Creation of empires across globe

• Even after end of empire, former colonies themselves become states

Comparing State Power

How do we compare and evaluate states?

• Forms of legitimacy

• Relative centralization of power

Legitimacy

• Confers authority and power

• Legitimate behavior is seen as “right thing to do” from a sense of reciprocal responsibility

• Consensus over coercion

Defined as a value where someone or something is recognized or accepted as right and proper

Forms of Legitimacy

According to Max Weber:

• Traditional

• Charismatic

• Rational-Legal

Traditional Legitimacy

• Valid because “it has always been done this way”

• Accepted over a long period of time• Historical myths and legends• Continuity between past and present• Example: monarchy• Highly institutionalized

Charismatic Legitimacy

• Opposite of traditional

• Charisma as the force of ideas

• Embodied in a single individual

• Example: Hitler, Martin Luther King

• Weakly institutionalized

Rational-Legal Legitimacy• Based on neither rituals nor force of ideas• Based on laws, procedures• Rules are key—how did someone come into

power?• Example: George Bush, though some might

contest this! Bumper sticker: “He’s not my president”—questioning election process

• Strongly institutionalized

Centralization/Decentralization

• Federalism/unitary

• Strong/weak/failed states

How much power does a state have, and where does that power reside?

Federalism versus Unitary States

• Federalism: significant powers devolved to the local level by constitution, not easily taken away

• Examples of powers: taxes, education, security (local police, militia)

• Examples of federal states: United States, Germany, Russia, Canada, Mexico

Unitary States

• Power resides with central government

• Can devolve powers to local level, but also take them away if it chooses

• Examples of unitary states: Britain, Japan, France, Sweden

Strong versus Weak States

• Strong states are able to carry out basic tasks expected of them: security, public policy, basic goods and services

• Weak states less able to fulfill tasks and may face rivals (organized crime, guerrilla movements, other states)

• Failed states have lost most of their ability to monopolize force and provide services

Capacity and Autonomy

• Capacity: ability of states to get things done; fulfill tasks

• Autonomy: ability to act free from direct public interference

• Too high autonomy and capacity leads to authoritarianism; too low, to state failure

• Both depend on the issue at hand—might have autonomy or capacity in one area but not another

Weak or Strong State?

US?

• Capacity: high or low? Examples?

• Autonomy: high or low? Examples?

China?

• Capacity: high or low? Examples?

• Autonomy: high or low? Examples?