State building, nationalism & the modern state

• What are the most important concepts in organisation of contemporary politics?

  The state and the nation
• Key questions of cause and effect
• Key question of cause and effect
• Key question of cause and effect

  • How and why does state emerge?
  • Why does nationalism emerge?
  • What are the consequences of nationalism?
  • What is the relationship between statehood and nationalism?
• Define modern state:

  Modern state is arguably the most central form of political organisation in modern politics.

  They are pervasive forms of social organisation evident in every facet of the social life of its members
• Define modern state:

  Max Weber, offered one of the most famous definition of state as: "a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given memory
• What are the key functions of a modern state?

  • Defense
  • Policing
  • Population and Territory Management
  • Taxation
  • Provision of additional public goods
• what is the function of defence in the modern state?

  States coordinate military action to protect the citizenry against potential foreign threats (with variations in the role of the military)
• What is the function of policing of the modern state?

  States coordinate police and judicial systems to create and maintain systems of punishment guaranteeing internal order
• What is the function of population and territory management in the modern state?

  States gather and manage information about their population and territory through mapping, censuses and surveys
• What is the function of taxation in modern state?

  States generates revenue to perform the above functions by taxing the wealth produced by its members
• What are the key characteristics of modern states?

  • Rule of Law
  • Sovereign
  • Bureaucratic
• What is meaning of Rule of law in modern states?

  The authority of the state is rule-based rather than personality based, thus ensuring it is predictable and impartial:

  States are identified by its members with rules and institutions rather than with the personalities of their leaders

  State institutions treat members as having citizenship, meaning that it regards them as essentially equal in terms of their political role and rights
• What is the meaning of Sovereign in modern states?


  States are the ultimate authority within their specifically demarcated territories. This means: 

  • They have control over their territory•
  • They are perceived as a source of legitimate authority internally•
  • They are recognised by other states externally
• What is the meaning Bureaucratic in modern states?

  States displays a form of internal organization that has non-elected officials operating and working under established, specified, and often complex administrative rules. This is essential to:

  •  Make and execute policy
  • Ensure transparency and accountability in decision-making 
  • Allowing states to endure and learn through record-keeping
• What are the variations in Statehood?

  • State Capacity
  • State fragility or failure
• What is the meaning of State Capacity in Variations in statehood?

  •The measurement of a state’s ability to accomplish its functions (policing, defense, population/territory management, taxation and provision of other public goods)

  This is enabled by state’s presenting the previously-discussed characteristics: a well-functioning bureaucracy, maintaining institutions and the rule of law, as well as internally and externally recognised sovereignty
• State fragility or failure:
• What is the meaning of State fragility or failure?

  • When states lack state capacity, and therefore cannot or do not perform their expected functions•

  In these cases, they often lack the previously-discussed characteristics: bureaucracy is severely dysfunctional, the rule of law is not upheld and/or they have lost their monopoly of the use of force.
• How do you measure the state capacity

  The world report is produced yearly by the Fund for Peace, using Fragile States Index
• The historical emergence of the Modern State

  The State in its modern form first emerged in Europe, with modern state-building starting in the late middle-ages and culminating in the early 20th century.

  
  

  In the 19th and 20th centuries, the concept of the state as a model became widespread globally, mainly due to Western colonialism. Even in the 20th and early 21st centuries, European states continued to evolve, adapting to changes such as digitization and shifts in patriarchal authority.
• What is the dominant form of human organisation?

  Feudalism:

  King's power competed with Catholic Church and nobility for control over legitimate use of force

  • Lack of standardized taxation and laws; individuals subject to local and arbitrary laws
  • Few standing armies at kingdom level
  • Informal divisions between European territories; permeable borders
• What is the emergence of the State in Europe?

  Centralisation or the fencing-out of competitors

  Specialisation or the emergence of a complex bureaucracy

  Nation-building or eliciting loyalty on the part of citizens
• What is the meaning of Centralisation or the fencing-out of competitors?

  Gradual emergence of strong military and budgetary capacity up to the 19th century

  Centralized and hierarchical judiciary system developed

  • Lower lords, Church, guilds/corporations progressively brought under State control
• What is the meaning of Specialisation or the mergence of a complex bureaucracy?

  In the 18th and 19th century specifically, states strengthens their bureaucratic capacity (diverse ministries, administration and a civil service) to regulate an increasingly complex society 
• What is the meaning of Nation-building on the part of citizens?

  • In the 19th and early 20th century, the State acquires greater legitimacy and capacity because it is seen to act in the name of the nation.

  The state actively participated in the construction of the nation through mass education and the ‘invention of tradition’ (Hobsbawm). 

  • By 1914, army drafting exemplifies the capacity of the state to mobilize citizens for self-sacrifice in support of the state’s external sovereignty (army drafting). 
• Causes and Effects: Why does state emerge?

  Political, Conflict Theories

  Economic Theories

  Cultural Theories

  Diffusion Theories
• Political/Conflict or "bellicist" Theories

  Definition: Range of theories that see the rise of the state as a consequence of political conflict.

  Rooted in classical political theory—think of Hobbes’ Leviathan, where individuals sacrifice their freedom to the state in exchange of protection

  Political scientists trace the historical development of the state as an organisation, and how it relates to the management of internal and external conflict
• Political/Conflict or "bellicist" Theories

  The most famous of these theories is Charles Tilly’s “bellicist theory”, according to which states had to develop in their modern form in order to effectively protect themselves against external threats.
• Political/Conflict or "bellicist" Theories

  • Summary: "War made the state and the state made the war" (Charles Tilly)
  • To wage war States had to build capacity and thus:
  • Centralise political authority and decision-making
  • Tax population to raise revenue
  • Mobilize populations in favour of the war effort
• Define economic theories-why do state emerge

  range of theories that see economic modernisation as the fundamental cause of the rise of modern states
• State-building is seen to reflect the underlying economic interests of economic elites, i.e. the rule of law ensures property rights and, more generally, a stable legal environment for free trade and profit maximization
• Examples of economic theories:

  marxist political economy links these ideas with capitalist classes seen to favour the rose of states to perserve their own dominance (allowing exploitation of labour)
• Define cultural theories-why do states emerge?

  range of theories that focus on the role of ideas and cultural norms in incentivising people to value statehood, and recognise that state as legitimate
• what are the cultural drivers of state-building?

  • emergence of nationalism-makes people state as an expression of their nation and accept its legitimacy
  • secularisation of society-relative authority of the church
  • protestantism-reshaped attitudes towards authority and work, thereby discipling populations and making them easier to govern
• Few would see cultural change as the main driver behind state-building, these factors are still critical in interacting with the political and economic factors previously mentioned
• Define diffusion theories- why do state emerge?

  range on theories that focus on explaining the diffusion of the modern state model from Europe to the rest of the state
• what do the diffusion theories focus on?

  they focus on the role of colonialism and post-colonialism in how it shapes the forms of human organisation throughout the globe, specifically in the 19th and 20th century
• What are the three main versions of the diffusion theories?

  • European states' military advantages facilitated domination globally and exportation of their state model
  • Exporting state models through colonialism benefited capitalist classes by creating markets for goods and exploiting raw materials and labor
  • State organization became a high-status model replicated globally, meeting normative expectations of societal organisation
• What are the theories of why do states emerge?

  • political/conflict or bellicist
  • economic
  • cultural
  • diffusion