GVPT 101 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Comparative Advantage, Industrial Revolution, Utopia
12 May 2016
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The destructive state: the goal of the state is to revolutionize society, to destroy the inherited society and replace it with another. These are sometimes called totalitarian states, because they are said to aspire to total control of society. But the extreme case aspires to more than control; it aspires to replace the existing society with a better one, by destroying the existing one. This state does not aspire to destroy you, but it will coerce you extensively. Mostly the goal of government is to maintain the status quo, and to remain in power. If you do not challenge that, you may be left to do what you want. The opposite of an authoritarian state is a minimal state: very little coercion, you can pretty much do what you want. This state may be quite authoritarian, or it may be minimal. State officials act in accordance with general rules announced in advance.
