POLI 100 Lecture 2: The State
19 Feb 2019
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Department
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Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The State
The State — What Is?
-One of the most important concepts in politics.
-A nation and/or territory considered to have an organized political community.
-Always represented by a ‘government’ (regardless of how effective or ineffective said
government is).
-State is the “highest form of authority” in a territory: Monopoly over use of force and
sovereignty.
-In in the international community, a state is seen as equal to other states and above all
challenges.
•Equal abroad, master at home
-A theoretical construct that is the highest level of political power that mankind has created so
far.
The State — Where From?
-European State: founded in the 16th and 17th centuries (Treaty of Westphalia, 1648)
-Very new in terms of life, but the strongest of its type in history.
-1560: Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth State —> first entity of a state as we know
•Most regulations in its territory before anything before
•More power to enforce regulations in its territory before anything before
1
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Tuesday, January 15, 2019
-Replaced feudal structures: lords, princes, kings, the Church
•In the 12th century, the Pope owned 1/3 of all territories in Europe
-Won over rival forms: Empires and Cities
•Why did we end up with the State and not an empire or a city?
•Empires are too big —> too much ethnic/cultural infighting
•City is too small —> militarily overpowered by bigger states and economically inefficient
The State — In Political Science
-Source of Its Authority
•God — belief that nothing happens on earth that god doesn’t want
•If a king was bad, it meant god was angry with man and it was an invitation to pray and
go to church more
•Tacit consent — social contract
•Collective belief of the people in the state (Nation? Consent? Contract?)
-State-Formation Theories
•Bellicist — war makes states, states make war
-A state needs a mechanism to function in times of war
•Contactualist — internal negotiation fed a structure that evolved into the state
• Marxist — the state is an empty tool that is dominated by the rich capitalist class to exploit
the working class
2
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Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The State — Is it Also…
-A country? A country and the state are the same thing, but a country can be imprecise (an
ideological thing like the Polish State — blips in and out of existence but in people’s hearts) in
political science.
-A nation?
•A nation-state (Ex: France, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark) —
•Settler-countries are the opposite of nation-states (Ex: Canada) — countries settled by
colonizers by kicking out an indigenous population
•A nation isn’t the same as a state, it is an organization with the same ethnicity, history,
culture, language, and values (Ex: the Kurdish State, Palestinian State? Roma/Gypsies?).
•A nation is not a state but there are nation-states, states that aren’t nation, nations that are
stateless
What Does a State Do?
-Night-watchman state — (some) US Republicans
•Minimal role
•Security and basic rights
•Minimized state presence and interference
•Analogy: only see the state at night making sure there aren’t robberies; honest citizens
shouldn’t see the state
•Negative and positive rights:
-Positive right: free education (Freedom to); i.e. hate speech
-Negative: abstain from acting a certain way (Freedom from); i.e. freedom of speech
3
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Document Summary
One of the most important concepts in politics. A nation and/or territory considered to have an organized political community. Always represented by a government" (regardless of how effective or ineffective said government is). State is the highest form of authority in a territory: monopoly over use of force and sovereignty. In in the international community, a state is seen as equal to other states and above all challenges: equal abroad, master at home. A theoretical construct that is the highest level of political power that mankind has created so far. European state: founded in the 16th and 17th centuries (treaty of westphalia, 1648) Very new in terms of life, but the strongest of its type in history. 1560: oliver cromwell"s commonwealth state > rst entity of a state as we know: most regulations in its territory before anything before, more power to enforce regulations in its territory before anything before.
