Chapter 2: States

  • tldr

    • states are sovereign political institutions that possess the power to make policy decisions and use force legitimately
    • states possess their political power due to legitimacy granted by the people of the state, which can come from a variety of sources
    • states are mad up of institutions that possess official powers, but linkage institutions such as political parties and interest groups can influence their decisions
    • the terms state, nation, regime, and government are crucial to differentiate in order to accurately explain a political system
    • states can centralize power at the top level, or spread powers among a variety of local institutions
    • supranational organizations are a new challenge to the sovereignty of states

  • Weber was the first to define a state: "monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force" otherwise known as a "monopoly on violence"

    • this means states are sovereign meaning they can can implement a decision without asking anyone higher up

  • there are strong, weak, and failed states

    • strong: "i can enact a policy and see through it's execution and enforcement"
      • Britain made the NHS and funded it too
    • weak: "i can enact a policy but i don't have the capacity to carry it out"
      • Nigeria cannot carry out a universal healthcare policy for all
    • failed: "i am very useless and cannot provide basic law and order"
      • Criminals can behave with impunity and have no fear of consequences (provides safe haven for terrorists, extremists, and pirates which makes these states scary for other countries)
      • Haiti & Somalia

  • autonomy: "can i make a policy without asking the public?"

    • China has HIGH autonomy while the UK has LOW autonomy

  • legitimacy: the people accept the right of the state to rule over them

    • Weber identified 3 types: traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal
      • traditional: "my ancestors did it and i am doing it so therefore i am powerful"
        • "god speaks to our family so i should be in charge"
        • pre-transitional England, imperial czarist Russia, dynastic China, and pre-1979 Iran
      • charismatic: "you guys like my idea? FOLLOW ME!"
        • also called a personality cult
        • think Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il-Sung, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin
        • Usually happens in the aftermath of a revolution
        • "great hero of the people"
        • usually manipulates a person to portray them as all the good that is in the nation (propaganda)
        • Stalin's totalitarian Russia, Maoist China, and Ayatollah Khomeini's rule in Iran after the Islamic Revolution
      • rational-legal: "the rules say i rule for right now so therefore i do"
        • unpopular leaders can rule in this type of legitimacy
        • post-transitional England (Britain)

Differentiating Terms

  • nations: "we think the same and are basically the same so we should be a state"
    • Mexico is basically common language, history, culture and religion so therefore NATION
    • China is also the same but without the religion part so NATION
    • stateless nations: poorly integrated culture into political system
      • Chechen people in Caucasus region of SW Russia, Uighur people of western China
  • regime: rules a political system operates under that defines who exercises power and how they exercise that power
    • can change through reform (important but gradual change that does not alter the political system), revolution (sudden and radical change that alters the political system), or coup d'état (military acts internally to displace those in power and takes power for itself)
  • government: people exercising power
    • government is president and his administration
    • can change through election, revolution or coup d'état

Centralization and Decentralization of Power

  • unitary states: all power is centralized at national level
    • regional governments will have little to no power
    • Britain, China, and Iran
    • devolution: central government willingly cedes certain key powers to regional governments in order to achieve a policy objective
      • devolved unitary state does not equate to federalism
  • federal states: official legal constitutional division of powers between regional and central government
    • United States was the first to do this with ratification of constitution
    • Russia*, Mexico, and Nigeria
  • supranational organizations: governing bodies that allow many sovereign states to send representatives to make collective decisions for the group
    • European Union, WTO (World Trade Organization), UN (United Nations)