Basics of States
What is a state? sovereign political institutions possess the power to make policy decisions Can use force legitimately
What’s the difference between a state, nation and ethnicity? State has: Sovereignty (no higher authority) Power Territory bounded by borders people “monopology on the legitimate use of force” People often refer to them as countries or nations
What’s the difference between a state, nation and ethnicity? Ethnicity is common Language Religion History Self-identified
What’s the difference between a state, nation and ethnicity? A nation is a group of people bonded together by a sense of sovereign political destiny (ie. We should be/are a state) Nation-state (compare borders…) Some nations are stateless… basis Often a desire for self government Scotland China versus Nigeria…
Citizenship? A formal relationship between the state and individual Rights Privileges Purely political Basis for patriotism (pride in state)
Strong versus weak states (capacity) Strong-government has ability to enact, execute and enforce policy Great Britain and national health system (Olympics) Weak state cannot carry out even popular programs Nigeria struggles with legal and law enforcement framework Failed states are unable to provide basic law and order To what extent are states autonomous? (need support of people)
Kinds of Legitimacy (perception of right to rule) Traditional Legitimacy Power obtained through traditions being maintained Consistency and predictability Like hereditary monarchs Examples Tsarist Russia China Iran before revolution of ‘79
Kinds of Legitimacy (perception of right to rule) Charismatic (personality cult) Single individual captures loyalty and attention of the people Often after revolutions/upheaval/crisis Stalin Mao Khomeini Trump?
Kinds of Legitimacy (perception of right to rule) Rational-legal—rules of the political game Leaders exercise power under specific rules Rules say what powers and when (ie. Defined term of office) Great Britain United States
Kinds of state governments Unitary states All or almost all centralized power Regional governments will not be very meaningful in comparison China, Iran Sometimes central governments adopt devolution policy (willingly cede power to obtain a policy objective) Tony Blair with Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland Canada with Quebec
Kinds of state governments Federal Official division of powers (constitution) between central and regional governments US with ratification of constitution Mexico and Nigeria are federal Russia used to be…
Kinds of state governments Confederation One central government is not truly sovereign over its members Uncommon in modern states (ie. USSR to CIS) Many supranational organizations are confederations
SUPRAnational Organizations Group makes collective decisions Sovereignty may be given up in certain areas (ie. Trade, but not military) Some sovereignty given up: EU WTO Little/no sovereignty given up: UN
Politics & Society… Cleavages Attitude Ideology Culture