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Week 7 – MC1 Fundamentals of Political Science

THE STATE
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CONTENT OF THIS DISCUSSION

INTRODUCTION OF THE STATE

▪ PHILOSOPHIES

▪ DEFINITION OF THE STATE

▪ HOW WE DEVELOP STATE?

▪ THEORIES OF STATE: DEBATING THE STATE

▪ ROLE OF THE STATE

ECLIPSE OF THE STATE

SUMMARY
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INTRODUCTION OF THE STATE

“THE UTOPIAN, IMMANENT, AND CONTINUALLY
FRUSTRATED GOAL OF THE MODERN STATE IS TO
REDUCE THE CHAOTIC, DISORDERLY, CONSTANTLY
CHANGING SOCIAL REALITY BENEATH IT TO
SOMETHING MORE CLOSELY RESEMBLING THE
ADMINISTRATIVE GRID OF ITS OBSERVATIONS.”

- JAMES C. SCOTT, Seeing Like A State:

How Certain Schemes To Improve The
Human Condition Have Failed (1998)
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STATE - a political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction

within defined territorial borders and exercises authority through a set of
permanent institutions.

- Politics by Andrew Heywood

STATE - in its sovereign form, an independent political-adminitrative unit

that successfully claims the allegiance of a given population, exercises a
monopoly on the legitimate use of coercive force and controls the territory
inhabited by its citizens or subjects.

- Understanding Politics Ideas, Institutions, and Issues by Thomas M.

Magstadt
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PHILOSOPHIES
- Socratic philosophy—the notion that there is no higher purpose than the
fearless pursuit of truth which represents a fundamental alternative to the
earlier works of Homer, who praised the virtues of courage and honor, and
the later teachings of Jesus, who proclaimed belief in God and moral
behavior in accordance with God’s word to be the basis of the most exalted
life

- Under the Perfect Polity, Socrates proposes that political life arises from
the fact that no indi_x0002_vidual can be self-sufficient. In a society, which
seeks to satisfy basic human needs, each person has a job, a special
function essential to maintain the society and keep the economy going.
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DEFINITION OF THE STATE

The term state has been used to refer to a

bewildering range of things. The confusion stems
from the fact that state has been understood in four
quite different ways:
● from an idealist perspective
● functionalist perspective
● an organizational perspective
● an international perspective
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IDEALIST PERSPECTIVE

Georg Hegel identified three moments of social existence: family,

civil society, and state;

Family- he argued that there is a particular altruism which

operates to encourage people to set aside their own interests for
the good of their children and elderly relative.

Civil Society- was defined as a sphere of universal egoism wherein

individuals set aside their own interests before others.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
State- an ethical community underpinned by mutual sympathy. -A German Philosopher
- one of the important figures in German
Idealism
- one of the founding figures of modern
Western Philosophy
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FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE

- they focus on the role or purpose of state institutions

- the function of the state is seen as the maintenance of the

social order

- the state is being defined as a set of institutions that uphold

order and deliver social stability
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ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
- defines state as the apparatus of government in it’s
broadest sense; that is, the set of institutions that are
clearly public in the sense that they are responsible for
the collective organization of social existence and are
funded at the expense of the public.

The organizational perspective holds five key features:

1. The state is sovereign. Where it exercises the absolute

and unrestricted power that stands above all associations
and grounds in society. Thomas Hobbes conveyed the
idea of sovereignty by potraying the state as a leviathan. THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)
- English Philosopher
- considered as one of the founders of
modern Political Philosophy
- known for his 1651 book “Leviathan”
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2. State institutions are recognizably public in contrast to the

private institutions of civil society. Public bodies are responsible
for making and enforcing collective decisions, while private
bodies, such as families, private businesses and trade unions,
exist to satisfy individual interests.

3. The state is an exercise in legitimation. The decisons of the

state are usually accepted as binding on the members of society
because, it is claimed, they are made in the public interest or for
common good; the state supposedly reflects the permanent
intersts of the society.
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4. The state is an instrument of domination. State

authority is backed up by coercion; the state must have
the capacity to ensure that its laws are obeyed and that
transgressors are punished. Max Weber defined state
as a monopoly of the means of legitimate violence.

5. The state is a territorial association. The jurisdiction

of the state is geographically defined and it
encompasses all those who live within the state’s
borders, whether they are citizens or non-citizens.
MAX WEBER (1864-1920)
- A German sociologist, historian,
jurist, and political economist
- recognized as one of the fathers of
sociology
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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

- approach to the state views it primarily as an actor on the world stage as the basic
unit of international politics. This highlights the dualistic structure of the state; the fact
that it has two faces, one looking outwards and the other one looking inwards.
- wherein the inward-looking face defines the relations of the state to individuals and
groups within its borders and its ability to maintain domestic order and the outward-
looking face deals with relations with other states and the ability to provide protection
from possible external attack.

The classic definition of the state in international law is found in the Montevideo
Convention on the Rights and Duties of the State (1933). According to Article 1 of the
Montevideo Convention, the state has four features:
• A defined territory
• A permanent population
• An effective government
• The capacity to enter into relations with other states
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In simple terms, the state is a historical institution: it emerged

in sixteenth- and seventeenth- century Europe as a system of
centralized rule that succeeded in subordinating all other
institutions and groups.
It includes the church, bringing an end to the competing and
overlapping authority systems that had characterized
Medieval Europe.
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HOW DO WE DEVELOP STATE?

- According to Charles Tilly, the central factor that explains
the existence of state was its ability to fight wars.

- The transformation of the scale and nature of military

encounters that was brought from the sixteenth century
onwards not only increased the coercive power but also
forced states to extend their control over populations by
developing more extensive systems of taxation and
administration.
CHARLES TILLY (1929-
- Marxists explained the development of the state was
2008)
solely because of its economic terms that traced back from
-An American Sociologist
feudalism to capitalism, with the state essentially being a
- A Political Scientist
tool used by the emerging bourgeois class.
- A historian who wrote
relationship between politics
and society
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- Michael Mann offered an account of the

emergence of the state that stresses the state’s
capacity to combine ideological, economic,
military, and political forms of power.

- The state acquired wider economic and social

responsibilities during the twentieth century due to
the state having developed into a nation-state in
the nineteenth century and then going through the
process of gradual democratization. MICHAEL MANN (1943)
- Honorary Professor
- The author of “The Sources of
Social Power”
- Director of Research at the
University of Cambridge
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EXISTENCE OF SOCIAL CLASSES TO THE STATE

Plato’s republic was classified into three classes: farmers and artisans, warrior-
auxiliaries, and philosopher-guardians wherein each excel in one of three virtues
essential to the ideal city-state: moderation (farmers and artisans), courage (warrior-
auxiliaries), and wisdom (philosopher-guardians).

Marx believed his ideal society was not only possible but also inevitable: the classless
society. It is inevitable because human history is a product of irresistible forces. Thus,
one socioeconomic system—set of class relations—gives rise to an opposing class
system, and out of the struggle between the two comes a new system, a synthesis of
the two.
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THEORIES OF STATE: DEBATING TOPIC OF THE STATE

There are various rival theories of the state, each of which offers a different
account of its origins, development, and impact on society.

Four contrasting theories of the state can be identified as follows:

• The Pluralist State

• The Capitalist State

• The Leviathan State

• The Patriarchal State

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THE PLURALIST STATE

- It comes from the belief that the state acts as an ‘umpire’ or ‘referee’ in
the society.

- Thomas Hobbes and John Locke argued that the state had arisen out of a
voluntary agreement, or social-contract, made by individuals who
recognized that only the establishment of a sovereign power could
safeguard them from the insecurity, disorder, and brutality of the state
of nature.

* Hobbes’ argument states that the stability and order could be

secured only through the establishment of an absolute and unlimited state,
with power that could be neither challenged, nor questioned. In other
words, a choice between absolutism and anarchy.
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* On Locke’s argument, he explained that the state is restricted to the

defense of a set of ‘natural’ or God-given individual rights namely, ‘life,
liberty, and property’. This establishes a clear distinction between the
responsibilities of the state and the responsibilities of individual citizens.

- Pluralism asserts that within liberal democracies, power is widely and

evenly dispersed.

- Pluralism holds that the state is neutral as it is susceptible to the influence

of various groups and interests, and all social classes.
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THE CAPITALIST STATE

- Marxist notion of a capitalist state offers a clear alternative to the pluralist image of the
state as a neutral arbiter or umpire. They also argued that the state cannot be understood
separately from the economic structure of society.

- Marx did not develop a systematic or coherent theory of the state. He believed that the
state is part of a ‘superstructure’ that is determined or conditioned by the economics ‘base’,
which can be seen as the real foundation of social life.

In Marx’s writings, two theories of the state can be identified:

* The first is from his writing, “The Communist Manifesto ([1848] 1967)” in the quote, ‘The
executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the
whole bourgeoisie’. It is clearly stated that the state is dependent on the society and its
economically dominant class, which in capitalism is the bourgeoisie.
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* The second is from his analysis of the revolutionary events in

France between 1848 and 1851, ‘The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis
Bonaparte ([1852] 1963). He suggested that the state could enjoy what
has come to be seen as ‘relative autonomy’ from the class system, the
Napoleonic state being capable of imposing its will upon society, acting
as an ‘appalling parasitic body’.

- The state can be used during the transition from capitalism to

communism in the form of the revolutionary dictatorship of the
proletariat.

- The capitalist state’s role is to serve the long-term interests of

capitalism, even though these actions may be resisted by sections of the
capitalist class itself.
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THE LEVIATHAN STATE

- Described as a one associated in modern politics with the New Right wherein
it is distinguished by strong antipathy towards state intervention in economic
and social life believing that the state is a parasitic growth that threatens both
individual liberty and economic security.

- The state pursues interests that are separate from those of society and that
those interests demand an unrelenting growth in the role or responsibilities of
the state itself.
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THE PATRIARCHAL STATE

- Feminist theory encompasses a range of traditions and perspectives, and has
thus generated a range of very different attitudes towards state power.

There are 3 main traditions in the feminist theories:

1. Liberal Feminisn

- Believe that sexual or gender equality can be brought about through

incremental reform and have tended to accept an essentially pluralist view of
the state.

- Believe that all groups (including women) have potentially equal access to
state power, and that this can be used impartially to promote justice and the
common good.
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2. Radical Feminism

- Argue that state power reflects a deeper structure of oppression in the form of
patriarchy.

- It view state as a context of gender inequality, and insist that it is essentially an

institution of male power.

3. Marxist Feminism

Marxist developed instrumentalist and structuralist versions of feminism:

- The instrumentalist argu ment views the state as little more than an agent or ‘tool’ used
by men to defend their own interests and uphold the structures of patriarchy

- Structuralist arguments tend to emphasize the degree to which state institutions are
embedded in a wider patriarchal system.
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ROLE OF THE STATE

Contrasting interpretations of state power have clear implications for the
desirable role or responsibilities of the state.

There is a disagreement in the exact role the state should play and
therefore about the proper balance between the state and civil society.

Among the different state forms that have developed are the following:

• Minimal States
• Developmental States
• Social-democratic States
• Collectivized States
• Totalitarian States
• Religious States
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MINIMAL STATES
- Is an ideal of classical liberals which aims to ensure that individuals enjoy the widest
possible realm of freedom.

- In Locke’s fa simile, he described the night watch-man (minimal) states with three core
functions:

• First, the state exist to maintain domestic order.

• Second, ensures that contracts or voluntary agreements made between private citizens
are enforced and;

• Third, it provides protection against external attacks

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DEVELOPMENTAL STATES
- It practice interventionism to promote industrial growth and
economic development.

- This does not amount to an attempt to replace the market

with a ‘socialist’ system of plan_x0002_ning and control but,
rather, to an attempt to construct a partnership between the
state and major economic interests, often underpinned by
conservative and
nationalist priorities.

- Countries such as Austria and Germany achieved economic

development through the construction of ‘partnership state’
in which it focuses on the maintenance of a close
relationship between the state and major economic interests
particularly in big businesses and organized labour.
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SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC STATES

- Intervenes with the restructuring of the state

with accordance with principles such as
fairness, equality, and social justice.

- The ideal of modern liberals and democratic

socialists.

- An active participant in helping to rectify the

imbalances and injustices of a market
economy.
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COLLECTIVIZED STATES

- It brings the entirety of economic life under state of control.

-The best examples of such states were in orthodox communist

countries, these sought to abolish private enterprise altogether,
and set up centrally planned economies administered by a network
of economic ministries and planning committees.

- The justification for state collectivization stems from a

fundamental socialist preference for common ownership over
private property.
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TOTALITARIAN
STATES
- The essence of totalitarianism is the construction of an all-
embracing state, the influence of which penetrates every aspect of
human existence

- It brings not only the economy but also the education, culture,
religion, family life, and so on under direct state control
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RELIGIOUS STATES
- It is the period wherein it has witnessed the rise of
the religious state, driven by the tendency within
religious fundamentalism to reject the
public/private divide and to view religion as the
basis of politics

- Religious states are founded on the basis of

religious principles
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ECLIPSE OF THE STATE

GOVERNMENT

- A government is the authority that sets rules for a society.

- According to Heywood, in making and implementing state policy,

government is the brains of the state and it perpetuates the state’s
existence.

- According to Magstadt, government is a human invention by

which societies are ruled and binding rules are made.
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CIVIL SOCIETY

- Civil society is the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and

institutions that involve diverse cultural, religious, and special interest
groups that represent and implement the interests and will of citizens and
enforce social norms.

- According to Heywood, civil society refers to a realm of autonomous groups

and associations: businesses, interest groups, clubs, families and so on.

- In Magstadt point of view, civil society is defined by and reflected in the

kinds of everyday decisions and choices made by ordinary people leading
ordinary lives.
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DECLINE AND FALL OF THE STATE

GLOBALIZATION AND STATE TRANSFORMATION
- The rise of globalization has stimulated a major debate about the power and significance of the
state in a globalized world.

- Some theorists suggest that the rise of globalization is inevitably marked by the decline of the
state as a meaningful actor.

- In the so-called ‘hyperglobalists’, the state is seen to be so ‘hollowed out’ as to have become, in
effect, redundant.

- In a view, it was stated that globalization and the state are not separated or still less, opposing
forces, rather and to a surprising degree, globalization has been created by states and thus exist
to serve their interests.
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- Another view which has been acknowledge is that globalization has brought about qualitative
changes in the role and significance of the state, and in the nature of sovereignty, but
emphasizes that these have transformed the state, rather than simply reduced or increased
its power.

- The increased in global competition helps in developing a more efficient and responsive means
of developing public policy and delivering public services. To others, it might have reflected a
shift from government to governance.

- With these developments, some argue that transformation of the state itself, reflecting the rise
of what has variously been called the ‘compe_x0002_tition’ state, the ‘market’ state or the
‘postmodern’ state.

- The core feature of the market state is a shift away from ‘top-down’ economic management,
based on the exis_x0002_tence of discrete national economies, to an acceptance of the
market as the only reliable principle of economic organization.
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NON-STATE ACTORS AND INTERNATIONAL BODIES
- Major aspects of politics no longer take place merely in
or through the state but, rather, outside or beyond the
state.
- Economic size of those non-state actors does not
necessarily translate into political power or influence.
- Non-state actors are understood as a political
globalization wherein it opens up opportunities for the
state as well as diminishes them.
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FAILED STATES AND STATE-BUILDING
- A failed state is a state that is unable to perform its key role of ensuring
domestic order by monopolizing the use of force within its territory.

- State failure is not just a domestic problem. Failed states often have a wider impact through, for
example, precipitating refugee crises, providing a refuge for drug dealers, arms smugglers and
terrorist organizations, generating regional instability, and, sometimes, provoking external
intervention to provide humani_x0002_tarian relief and/or to keep the peace.

- States have been distinguished by their weakness. Some weakest states in the world are
concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, classic examples being Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the
Democratic Republic of the
Congo. These states fail the most basic test of state power which makes them unable to maintain
domestic order and personal security, meaning that civil strife and even civil war become almost
routine.
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- In this light, there has been a growing emphasis on

state-building, typically associated with the larger process
of peace building and attempts to address deep-rooted,
structural causes of violence in post-conflict situations.
- India, South Korea and Taiwan are examples of states
that have been highly successful in pursuing strategies of
economic modernization and social development.
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RETURN OF THE STATE

What explains the return of the state?

- A number of developments in recent years have helped to strengthen the

state and underline its essential importance.

- The state’s unique capacity to maintain domestic order and protect its citizens
from external attack has been strongly underlined by new security challenges
that have emerged in the twenty-first century.

- Although the days of command-and-control economic management may be

over, the state has sometimes reasserted itself as an agent of modernization.

- Competition states improve their education and training in order to boost

productivity and provide support for key export industries.
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SUMMARY