hay & lister - theories of state

• State


  (In the 'mirror-for-princes' writings) Synonymous not only with the prince himself, but with the character of the political regime, the geographical area over which sovereign authority was claimed and maintained, and the very institutions of government required to preserve such authority
• State


  (In republican political theory of the Renaissance) An autonomous civil and political authority regulating the public affairs of an independent community or 'commonwealth', claiming and enjoying a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence, and deriving the authority for this claim not from the power or stature of its ruler(s), but from the people themselves
• Neo-Weberians have concentrated on the mechanisms by which the state preserves its monopoly of authoritative rule-making, focusing on political legitimacy, the strategies and mechanisms through which it is constructed and sustained, the processes leading to its withdrawal, and the consequences for the balance between coercion and consent in modern societies
• Marxist state theory


  Explores the role of the state in the regulation and reproduction of capital, and whether the state is inherently capitalist or capitalist by virtue of existing within a capitalist system
• Issues like terrorism have led to a renewed emphasis on security politics and Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, as well as the gains of nationalist/populist political parties across Europe have given renewed attention to sovereignty, nationalism and populism