POLSCI 329S Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Westfalia, Non-Interventionism
17 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Politics of Violence
9.08.16 Lecture Notes – The State
Empires, states, religious organizations, city-states
Different types of political communities
Key aspects of these communities – military conquest and preparation for war
Tilly presents a somewhat Darwinist theory of states
o The state was the form of governance that survived the best!
o In the world of military competition
Why was the state the best type?
o A manageable size (empire is too big, city-state is too small)
o Capital – money
o Coercion – force
o The state has a balance of both capital and coercion
The Weberian state – the signal characteristic of a state is its monopoly on the legitimate use of
physical force in the territory it is said to control (Herbst, 21)
Sovereignty
o Internal monopoly of power
o Non-intervention in other states issues (Westfalia Peace Treaty, 1648)
▪ In empires, the boundaries were much more fluid
National states
o Prevalent form today
o How many states are there? – 196
o Characteristics
▪ FIXed territory and STABLE borders
▪ Monopoly of legitimate violence
• What Tilly calls force
▪ It intends to homogenize culture
• Is this always the case?
16th century Europe
o Unification of Germany and Italy – 19th century
o England, France, Spain – function countries that set the precendent for national states
Capital and coercion
o State formation – interaction between war, economics, and international position
o Strategies of state creation varied from coercion-intensive to capital-intensive
▪ Coercion-intensive (Brandenburg, Russia)
▪ Capital-intensive (Genoa, Venice)
▪ Capitalized coercion (France, Spain) → proved more effective in war
• The state allows power to merchants and bankers in exchange for the cash
necessary to wage war
• Kings ask merchants for money and the merchant gains political power
• Everyone rationally maximizes influence in the state and security
o War is the center of system
▪ By-products = Parliament, other infrastructure, administration
▪ All these by-products creates institutions, and thus a state
o How did the states emerge as viable units?
▪ Nationalism!
▪ Creation of armies – creation of a national identity
▪ Mass schooling – making people literate and explaining to them the
values/boundaries of the country
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Key aspects of these communities military conquest and preparation for war. Tilly presents a somewhat darwinist theory of states: the state was the form of governance that survived the best, in the world of military competition. Why was the state the best type: a manageable size (empire is too big, city-state is too small, capital money, coercion force, the state has a balance of both capital and coercion. The weberian state the signal characteristic of a state is its monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force in the territory it is said to control (herbst, 21) Sovereignty: internal monopoly of power, non-intervention in other states issues (westfalia peace treaty, 1648) In empires, the boundaries were much more fluid. 196: characteristics, fixed territory and stable borders, monopoly of legitimate violence, what tilly calls force. Failed states not enough war no incentive to build a bureaucracy and a strong military.
