SOCI 1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Representative Democracy, Direct Democracy, Traditional Authority
13 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Sociology of government
Lecture 9
Nation States
Nation: “a people defined by collective belonging to an extensive community, usually
defined in relation to a specific territory” (O’Brien and Szeman p. 217).
the state: “a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate
use of physical force within a given territory” (Weber in Little et al, p. 519).
Nation-state: “a political unit whose boundaries are co-extensive with a society” (Little et
al, p. 541).
Politics
Polis: Greek idea of the city-state, political form of collective life
Politics: “striving to share power or striving to influence the distribution of power, either
among states or among groups within a state” (Weber in Little et al, p. 517).
Sovereignty
Sovereignty: “the political form in which a single, central ‘sovereign’ or supreme
lawmaking authority governs within a clearly demarcated territory” (Little et al, p. 518).
Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651)
Sovereign provides law and security in exchange for individuals’ rights to
violence
Democracy is always a tension between sovereign rule and rights of individuals
The Birth of Nations
Emerged, 18th century with:
Development of transportation technologies
Print capitalism
Offered both:
Empowerment & democracy
Restrictions & tyranny of the state
Peace of Westphalia (1648)
Imagined Community: “In fact, the nation, as a concept, derives its historical significance
not so much through its grounding in a specific material polity or place as through its
unprecedented power to command connections between people spread over vast
distances” (p. 217).
Invented traditions: “a set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted
rules of a ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of
behaviour by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past”
(Hobsbawm on p. 218).
Democracy
Democracy: “rule by the people” (p. 523)
Direct democracy: all members of society actively involved in decision making
Representative democracy: elected officials stand-in as representatives for sections of the
population (p. 523).
The state of exception
State of exception: “when the law or constitution is temporarily suspended during a time
of crisis so that the executive leader can claim emergency powers” (Little et al, p. 529).
Terrorism
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Document Summary
Nation-state: a political unit whose boundaries are co-extensive with a society (little et al, p. 541). Polis: greek idea of the city-state, political form of collective life. Politics: striving to share power or striving to influence the distribution of power, either among states or among groups within a state (weber in little et al, p. 517). Sovereignty: the political form in which a single, central sovereign" or supreme lawmaking authority governs within a clearly demarcated territory (little et al, p. 518). Sovereign provides law and security in exchange for individuals" rights to violence. Democracy is always a tension between sovereign rule and rights of individuals. Direct democracy: all members of society actively involved in decision making. Representative democracy: elected officials stand-in as representatives for sections of the population (p. 523). State of exception: when the law or constitution is temporarily suspended during a time of crisis so that the executive leader can claim emergency powers (little et al, p. 529).
