Defining the State

2. Defining the State • Max Weber: (1864-1920), German sociologist, an organization that has a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force 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 resists threats from without

3. What do States do? • Provide protection & punish violators – rule of law • Provide public goods & services • Ensure national defense • Provide and promote economic development and political stability • Negotiate the (unspoken)social contract

4. States Make Policy Unlike criminal rackets, states turn ideas into political practice and the state is valued for its own sake • Laws and regulations • Property rights • Health and labor protections • Social welfare The state creates standards through which public goals such as freedom and equality can be achieved

5. How well do states govern? • According to the World Bank, variables include: • Voice and accountability • Political stability • Government effectiveness • Regulatory quality • Rule of law • Control of corruption • If some of all of these variables are absent, a state may fail.

6. Failed states • Loss of physical control of its territory; loss of legitimate use of force w/in territory • Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions • Inability to provide reasonable public services • Failed states in 2010 include Somalia, Chad and Sudan** • **http://www.fundforpeace.org

7. Regime • Specific form of gov’t in a state at a given period of time • Regime changes involve changes in constitution, and changes in division of power among the diff. institutions • Regimes can be considered democratic or authoritarian

8. 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”)

9. States and Regimes, Hardware and Software • State is the computer hardware of politics – a constant that doesn’t change over time. • Regimes as political “software,” (democratic/authoritarian) for the computer – generally a constant • Each state is led by programmer (government) which can be changed relatively easy

10. What Is Government? • The leadership in charge of running the state • May be democratic or undemocratic • Weakly institutionalized—removed by public, by force, by mortality…

11. Origins of States and Political Organizations • 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

12. Emergence of Political Organization Development of societies required political organization • Make and enforce rules • Mechanism to solve conflict • Set collective goals Finding balance between freedom and equality led to questions of who should have power and how they should wield it

13. 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

14. 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)

15. Comparing State Power How do we compare and evaluate states? • Forms of legitimacy • Relative centralization of power

16. Legitimacy Defined as a value where someone or something is recognized or accepted as right and proper • Confers authority and power • Legitimate behavior is seen as “right thing to do” from a sense of reciprocal responsibility • Consensus over coercion • Max Weber’s forms of legitimacy include traditional, charismatic and rational-legal.

17. 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

18. Charismatic Legitimacy • Opposite of traditional • Charisma as the force of ideas • Embodied in a single individual • Example: Hitler, Martin Luther King • Weakly institutionalized

19. Rational-Legal Legitimacy • 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

20. Centralization/Decentralization How much power does a state have, and where does that power reside? • Federalism/unitary

21. 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

22. 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