POL355Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Public Culture, Social Capital
Document Summary
Although democracy is the norm, most political structures are still in elite control and political participation is still restricted by these elites. Policies have always been elite-driven and elite action is the main characteristic to the state. The state uses force to extract revenue from the people; for example, taxation. People comply with this but this doesn"t mean voluntary support. States are not voluntary nor do they represent conscious efforts of the society. Society is not a construction of the state but they are organic. They may disappear from the political map of the world, but they remain on the social map of the world. Despite any ruling, society precedes and survives states and other forms of political organizations that come and go. States are xed in terms of borders but societies can be and are transnational and trans-border. Morally speaking, the society doesn"t own the state.
