SLGY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Seymour Martin Lipset, Montesquieu, American Exceptionalism
3 Mar 2015
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> processes through which groups advance their interests. State defines territory, establish boundaries, monopolize violence, define a population. Class relations play a major factor in the kinds of politics in society. Americans have come up with the best societal model, we should all follow it. Relies on established and formed rules and regulations. Early modern conceptualizations of the state: hobbes > we are nasty, brutish beings. We need a leviathan state to regulate us: locke > people are good, we need freedom and liberty. Regulated state: montesquieu > who cares about people"s nature. Politics, state are corruptive > needs to be balanced. Prohibition of opposition forces against the authority of the state: totalitarian state. Control every aspect of life with the state: liberal democratic state. Rule by the people for the people. The state exercises direct and indirect power. Indirect > manipulation of ideas and ideology > ensures consent and restricts resistance. People should be more concerned about indirect power.
