Chapter 3 - Politics and the
State
Defining the State
Origins and development of the state
The state is a centralized ruling force/institution that includes all intitutions
and groups → the state did emerged in sixteenth- and seventeenth- century
Europe.
Why did the state came into existance?:
Charles Tilly (1990): ‘war made the state, and the state made war’.
Marxists: The state is an economic factor which was used by the
bourgeois
Michael Mann (1993): The state became the state because it has the
capacity to combine ideological, economic, military and political forms of
power.
In the 19th century, states became nation-states (one nation within a single
state) → Independence of former colonies led to more states, because of
their sovereignity.
Approaches to the state
We can perceive the state in four different ways:
The idealistic approach
Most clear in the writings of Hegel → the state is an ethical community
underpinned by mutual sympathy
The functionalist approach
Focuses on the role or purpose of state institutions → the central
function of the state is seen as the maintenance of social order.
This is the opposit of the Marxist view.
the organizational view
Defines the state as the apparatus of government in its broadest sense.
→ state as that which is ‘public’ → this definition devides state and civil
Chapter 3 - Politics and the State 1
, society → because of the state being ‘public’, that domain can grow but
also decline. With this information, we can identify 5 features of the
state:
The state is sovereign
State institutions are recognizaably ‘public’, in contrast to the
‘private’ institutions.
The state is an exercise in legitimation
The state is an instrument of domination
The state is a territorial association
The international approach
Views the state as primarily an actor on the world stage → basic unit of
international politics. → dualistic factor of the state (looking inwards,
looking outwards)
According to article 1 of the Montevideo Convention, the state had 4
features:
a defined territory
a permanent population
an effective government
the capacity to enter into relations with other states
Debating the State
Rival theories of the state
There are four contrasting theories of the state:
The pluralist state
The pluralist theory on the state dominated mainstream political
analysis.
It’s fundations lie in the idea that the state acts as an ‘umpire’ or
‘referee’. → thus, the state can be ignored and can be bent to the will of
the government
The state can be a protection from the insecurity, disorder and brutality
of the state of nature → order and civilized existance are guaranteed.
(Thomas Hobbes, John Locke).
Chapter 3 - Politics and the State 2
State
Defining the State
Origins and development of the state
The state is a centralized ruling force/institution that includes all intitutions
and groups → the state did emerged in sixteenth- and seventeenth- century
Europe.
Why did the state came into existance?:
Charles Tilly (1990): ‘war made the state, and the state made war’.
Marxists: The state is an economic factor which was used by the
bourgeois
Michael Mann (1993): The state became the state because it has the
capacity to combine ideological, economic, military and political forms of
power.
In the 19th century, states became nation-states (one nation within a single
state) → Independence of former colonies led to more states, because of
their sovereignity.
Approaches to the state
We can perceive the state in four different ways:
The idealistic approach
Most clear in the writings of Hegel → the state is an ethical community
underpinned by mutual sympathy
The functionalist approach
Focuses on the role or purpose of state institutions → the central
function of the state is seen as the maintenance of social order.
This is the opposit of the Marxist view.
the organizational view
Defines the state as the apparatus of government in its broadest sense.
→ state as that which is ‘public’ → this definition devides state and civil
Chapter 3 - Politics and the State 1
, society → because of the state being ‘public’, that domain can grow but
also decline. With this information, we can identify 5 features of the
state:
The state is sovereign
State institutions are recognizaably ‘public’, in contrast to the
‘private’ institutions.
The state is an exercise in legitimation
The state is an instrument of domination
The state is a territorial association
The international approach
Views the state as primarily an actor on the world stage → basic unit of
international politics. → dualistic factor of the state (looking inwards,
looking outwards)
According to article 1 of the Montevideo Convention, the state had 4
features:
a defined territory
a permanent population
an effective government
the capacity to enter into relations with other states
Debating the State
Rival theories of the state
There are four contrasting theories of the state:
The pluralist state
The pluralist theory on the state dominated mainstream political
analysis.
It’s fundations lie in the idea that the state acts as an ‘umpire’ or
‘referee’. → thus, the state can be ignored and can be bent to the will of
the government
The state can be a protection from the insecurity, disorder and brutality
of the state of nature → order and civilized existance are guaranteed.
(Thomas Hobbes, John Locke).
Chapter 3 - Politics and the State 2
