3.5: Student Resources

Key Terms

• Anarchy is a lack of societal structure and order, where there is no established hierarchy of power.
• Annex is to take over a region.
• Authority is having the power to get things done.
• Capacity is the ability of a state to use its power, as derived through authority and legitimacy, to get things done and promote its own interests.
• Charismatic legitimacy is a type of legitimacy in which citizens follow the rules of a state based on the charisma and personality of the current leader.
• Civil liberties are individual rights that are protected by law to ensure the government does not unreasonably interfere (e.g., freedom of speech).
• Constitution is a written document describing the basic principles and laws of the state.
• Country is a nation, which may have one or more states within it.
• Coup d'état (often simply called "coup") is an attempt to abruptly, unlawfully, and sometimes violently seize power from an existing government.
• Cult of personality occurs when a state leverages all aspects of a leader’s real and exaggerated traits to solidify the leader’s power.
• Democracy is a political regime in which the supreme power of government is vested in the people.
• Direct democracy is a type of democracy in which all citizens are involved in political decision-making.
• Failed states are those in which the structures of the state are so weak that the state breaks down.
• Feudalism was a system of social order that arose out of the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe, wherein peasants (sometimes called Serfs) were forced to provide members of the upper class with their crops, goods, services, and loyalty.
• Government is the organization, or the group of people, with the power to set rules, to manage, and to regulate a political unit (e.g., a state).
• Hard power is the ability to get others to do what you want using physical, military might and/or aggressive economic measures.
• Indirect (representative) democracy is a political system in which the people elect representatives to serve on their behalf to make the laws and rules of society.
• Junta is a governing body within a type of non-democracy, a military regime, in which there is a small, military group of elites who rule state activities.
• Legitimacy is a state’s ability to establish itself as a valid power over its citizens.
• Military regime is a type of political regime characterized by military elites, rather than civilians, running the government.
• Nation is a population of people joined by common culture, history, language, and ancestry within a designated region or territory.
• Naturalization is the process by which non-citizens formally become citizens of the country they reside in.
• Non-democracy is a political regime that denies citizens meaningful institutional channels for making choices about their collective well-being.
• Personalist regime is a type of political regime is which power lies with a single, charismatic, and all powerful person who drives all actions of the state.
• Political regime is a set of rules that structures access to political power within a state, usually institutionalized through a constitution.
• Political regime transition is when there is a change in political regime (e.g., from democracy to non-democracy, from non-democracy to democracy, or from one type of non-democracy to another).
• Power is the ability to get others to do what you want them to do.
• Protectorate is an area or nation that is managed, possessed, controlled, and protected by a different state.
• Rational-legal legitimacy is a type of legitimacy that exists when states derive their authority through firmly established laws, rules, regulations, and procedures (e.g., through a constitution).
• Scramble for Africa, sometimes called the Conquest of Africa, is when Western European powers attempted to control and colonize all parts of Africa.
• Social contract is a formal or informal agreement between the rulers and those ruled in a society.
• Soft power is the ability to get others to do what you want them to do using the methods of persuasion or attraction, such as through diplomacy or cultural influence.
• Sovereignty is fundamental governmental power and authority in decision-making within a given territory. 
• State is a national-level group, organization, or body which administers its own legal and governmental policies within a designated region or territory.
• Strong states are those that are able to work their political agendas effectively and to make sure basic political tasks are completed.
• Traditional legitimacy is a type of legitimacy that exists when states have the authority to lead based on historical precedent.
• Weak states are those which are unable to perform basic political tasks or complete their political agendas effectively.

Summary

Section 3.1: Introduction to States

A state is a national-level group, organization, or body that administers its own legal and governmental policies within a designated region or territory. There has been ample research regarding the formation of states globally, and it is important to be able to distinguish between the terms "government," "state," "country," "nation," and "regime." Social contract theory is a critical concept in considering state formation because it lays the foundations for why individuals might enter into a social contract with government powers. Ideally, the social contract is the mechanism through which individuals surrender some of their individual rights for protections provided by the governmental powers.

Section 3.2: The Modern State and Regime Types

Social contracts and state authority are not the same everywhere. Modern states can fall into the categories of strong and weak states. Strong states are those which are able to work their political agendas effectively and to make sure basic political tasks are completed. Weak states are those which are unable to perform basic political tasks and unable to complete their political agendas effectively. The difference between strong and weak states can often be delineated through calculating a state’s political capacity. Political capacity is the ability of a state to use its power, as derived through authority and legitimacy, to get things done and promote its own interests. A political regime is a set of rules that structures access to political power within a state, usually institutionalized through a constitution. A state may fall into one of many types of political regime, which can fall on a spectrum of democracies to non-democracies.

Section 3.3: Comparative Case Study – States and the Stateless: Botswana and Somalia

Although Botswana and Somalia have a number of geographic and historical circumstances in common, the resulting political outcomes differ. Botswana is considered to have one of the oldest and most stable democracies in Africa, while Somalia does not have a consolidated government authority that has widespread approval of the population. Botswana is recognized as a functional state, whereas Somalia has occasionally been considered stateless, a failed state, or a failing state. One of the features that may have been pivotal in the political outcomes of both Botswana and Somalia is the extent to which external powers interfered with their establishment of government authority. Botswana, though formally annexed by Britain, was able to establish its own government, whereas Somalia was considered to be of too much geopolitical importance to be supported in its pathway to eventual independence.

Review Questions

1. Which of the following influential thinkers was NOT a social contractarian?
   1. Thomas Hobbes
   2. John Locke
   3. King George
   4. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
2. What is one way to gauge the difference between a strong and weak state?
   1. military strength
   2. economic strength
   3. political capacity
   4. regime type
3. What is the name of the governing body within a military regime that has a small group of military officers in charge?
   1. democracy
   2. aristocracy
   3. anarchy
   4. junta
4. What do we term a state that has structures so weak that the state breaks down?
   1. failed state
   2. strong state
   3. institutionalized state
   4. weak state
5. What do we call the change from a democracy to a dictatorship, or from a dictatorship to a democracy?
   1. weak state
   2. strong state
   3. regime transition
   4. consolidated government

Answers: 1.c, 2.c, 3.d., 4.a, 5.c

Critical Thinking Questions

1. What is the state and what is its relationship to the social contract? Consider the various ways in which the social contract can manifest to contribute to varying state outcomes.
2. How is the strength of a state derived? How can we tell the difference between weak and strong states? Provide examples.
3. Are some societies better off without the state? Are there circumstances where the formation of a state would be detrimental? Describe these circumstances.

Suggestions for Further Study

Websites

• Our World in Data
• The World Bank, World Development Indicators
• The World Factbook, CIA

Journal Articles

• Gabriel A. Almond. (September 1988) “The Return of the State,” and replies by Eric A. Nordlinger, Theodore J. Lowi and Sergio Fabbrini, American Political Science Review, vol. 82, pp. 875-901.
• Stephen D. Krasner. (January 1984) “Approaches to the State: Alternative Conceptions and Historical Dynamics,” Comparative Politics, 16, pp. 223-246.

Books

• Martin Carnoy. (1984) Political Theory and the State.
• Mancur Olson. (2000). Power and Prosperity. New York: Basic Books.
• Robert Putnam. (1993). Making Democracy Work. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
• Hendrik Spruyt. (1994). The Sovereign State and Its Competitors. Princeton: Princeton University Press.