POLSCI 1G06 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Feudalism
Document Summary
Political science 1g06 2013 lecture 9a the state. The state as an institution has a history. It is not the only way of organizing political authority and political community. According to dickerson and flanagan: a state is defined by the joint presence of three factors: population, territory, and sovereignty. A state exists when a sovereign power effectively rules over a population residing within the boundaries of a fixed territory . Note that all of the bolded terms have a history that needs to be further explored. As an institution, sovereignty has both internal and external aspects. It is an institution with its own history. In theory, sovereignty implies that there is a clear hierarchy of rule within the state. There is one final source of authority. This does not mean that there are no other sources of authority within the state. However the sovereign is recognized as having the authority to overrule all others.