POL S101 Lecture Notes - Night-Watchman State, Illiberal Democracy, Liberal Democracy

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL S101
• Professor: Davina Rousell

Document Summary

State: must have a defined territory, a population, and a functioning/capable government (legal definition of state). There"s a difference between a state, a nation and a government. A government is the people/political party in control. A nation usually has common cultural and religious values and a common historical account. Sometimes we can use state and government interchangeably. One way to categorize a state is based on their intervention in the economy. --> if there is no government to preform the basic functions of controlling the territory, collecting taxes, enforcing laws: they are called a failed state. A typology of the state: states can be categorized based on how much they intervene in society and the economy: Night watch-man state - minimal role of the state in the economy and society, their job is to protect life, liberty and property of the people. This is favored by classical liberals or libertarians.