POLS 110 Lecture Notes - Feudalism, Subsistence Economy
20 Jul 2013
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Document Summary
The state is able to perform the universal functions of the state by power (or influence) alone: authority is crucial. Cheap (if people follow the given orders, its free. The use of force is costly: the use of force creates enemies. Supreme political authority as an articulated idea. Emergence of ideology of supreme political authority: the idea of sovereignty. Ability to do what the state wants within its borders. Sovereignty is not: the ability to make decisions indigenously (rather than to be ruled by others= independence, the ability to make decisions as one pleases= autonomy. All political communities strive for independence and autonomy. Many political communities are autonomous and independent but not sovereign: carthage, rome, athens, frankish empire. Looking at sovereignty as an idea that emerged in europe at a particular point in time. Grew out of the contradictions of the feudal way of organizing political authority. Authority organized: local, international (or pan-european)
