Modern State

Features of modern state Monopoly (control) of the means of violence Territoriality Sovereignty Constitutionality Impersonal power Public bureaucracy Authority/legitimacy Citizenship

Monopoly of the means of violence “But in order that these antagonisms and classes with conflicting economic interests might not consume themselves and society in a fruitless struggle, it became necessary to have a power seemingly standing above society that would alleviate the conflict and keep it within the bounds of “order”. This power, arisen out of society but placing itself above it, and alienating more and more from it, is the state.” (Friedrich Engels)

Territoriality States are geo-political entities Modern states are jealous about their territorial integrity As the territory occupied by the state became ever clearer, so did the tendency to identify states with nations.

Sovereignty Sovereignty is “the idea that there is a final and absolute authority in the political community”, with the proviso that “no final and absolute authority exists elsewhere”. In modern states, the sovereign power of the rulers emanate from people’ consent.

Constitutionality Constitution establishes “the laws about making laws and it secures the existence of the state The idea that the state constitutes a distinct and rule- governed domain with powers which are distanced from society and the economy is distinctively modern.

Rule of law and the exercise of impersonal power Within a constitutional order, those who exercise state power must do so in ways which are themselves lawful, constitutional and constrained by publicly- acknowledged procedures Hence politicians should themselves be subject to the constitutional order and the laws which they have themselves helped to make and enforce.

Public bureaucracy Administration of the modern state is bureaucratic Weber linked the predominance of the modern bureaucratic organization to coming of a fully monetized market economy Weber was also wary of the possibility of over- routinization and rule-guidedness of the bureaucratic apparatus, which may threaten he individual autonomy

Authority and legitimacy According to Weber, “legitimate authority describes an authority which is obeyed, at least in part, ‘because it is in some appreciable way regarded by the [subordinate] actor as in some way obligatory or exemplary of him’”. In modern state system, legal authority is given the prominence. Citizens attribute legitimacy to the modern state on the grounds that it is the appropriate embodiment of ‘ a consistent system of abstract laws’ impartially administrated by a rule-governed and non-partisan civil service.

Citizenship Citizenship is a status which, in principle, bestows upon individuals equal rights and duties, liberties and constraints, powers and responsibilities within the political community. As states transformed into nations, subjects are transformed into citizens (Turner, 1990)