3.5: Student Resources

Key Terms/Glossary

• Anarchy - defined as a lack of societal structure and order, where there is no established hierarchy of power.
• Absolute monarchy - when the monarch is wholly responsible for all decisions, and rules the state with absolute power over all political, economic and social matters.
• Annex - to take over a region.
• Aristocracy - a form of government where a group of social elites rule the state.
• Authority - defined as having the power to get things done. If we put these two terms together, a state is legitimate in its operations if it has the authority to make decisions and carry out its policy goals.
• Charismatic legitimacy - means that citizens follow the rules of a state based on the charisma and personality of the current leader.
• Civil liberties - defined as individual rights that are protected by law to ensure the government does not unreasonably interfere with certain specific individual rights (e.g. like freedom of speech, religion, assembly, etc.).
• Constitution - a state’s described laws of the land.
• Constitutional monarchy - when a monarch must abide by a state-adopted Constitution, which dictates the scope and depth of its power in all state-related activities.
• Country - defined as a nation, which may have one or more states within it, or may change state-type over time.
• Coup d’etat - an attempt by elites to overthrow the current government of a state through abrupt seizure of power and removal of the government’s leadership.
• 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 - a political system wherein government is dictated by the power of the people.
• Dictatorship - a form of government where one person has sole and absolute power over the state.
• Feudalism - was a system or 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, produce, goods as well as their services, fealty and loyalty.
• Hard power - the ability to get others to do what you want using physical and potentially aggressive measures, for instance, like fighting, attacking or through war.
• Junta - a regime type where there is a small, military group of elites who rule state activities.
• Legitimacy - defined as the state’s ability to establish itself as a valid power over its citizens.
• Nation - can be broadly defined as a population of people joined by common culture, history, language, ancestry within a designated region of territory.
• Naturalization - the process by which noncitizens formally become citizens of the country they reside in.
• Oligarchy - a form of government where elites rule, though there is not necessarily an assumption of nobility.
• Personalist dictatorship - where power lies with a single, charismatic and all powerful person who drives all actions of the state.
• Political capacity - the ability of a state to use its power, as derived through authority and legitimacy, to get things done and promote its own interests.
• Power - the ability to get others to do what you want them to do.
• Protectorate - an area or nation that is managed, possessed, controlled and protected by a different state.
• Rational-legal legitimacy - occurs when states derive their authority through firmly established, often written and adopted, laws, rules, regulations, procedures through a constitution.
• Regime transitions - occur when a formal government changes to a different government leadership, structure or system.
• Representative democracy - where the people elect representatives to serve on their behalf to make the laws and rules of society.
• Scramble for Africa - sometimes also called the Conquest of Africa, where Western European powers attempted to control and colonize all parts of Africa.
• Social contract - defined as either a formal or informal agreement between the rulers and those ruled in a society.
• Soft power - the ability to get others to do what you want them to do using the methods of persuasion or manipulation.
• State - defined as 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 which are able to work their political agendas effectively, to make sure basic political tasks are completed.
• Traditional legitimacy - occurs when states have the authority to lead based on historical precedent.
• Weak states - are those which are unable to perform basic political tasks, and unable to work the political agenda of the authority in charge. Weak states are typically unable to defend their territories and interests.

Summary

Section #3.1: Introduction to States

A state is defined as a national-level group, organization or body which 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 ‘state,’ ‘country’ and ‘nation’ when discussing state regimes. 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, to make sure basic political tasks are completed. Weak states are those which are unable to perform basic political tasks, and unable to work the political agenda of the authority in charge. 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.

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

using Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD), which asks comparativists to consider at least two cases where the cases are similar, but the outcomes from these cases are different, Botswana and Somalia are considered. Overall, although Botswana and Somalia have a number of geographic and historical circumstances in common, the resulting political outcomes were very different. 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 which 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 regime, 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. Which influential thinker did the founding fathers rely heavily on when drafting the U.S. Constitution?
   1. Thomas Hobbes
   2. John Locke
   3. John Stewart Mill
   4. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
3. One way to gauge the difference between a strong and weak state is:
   1. military strength
   2. economic strength
   3. political capacity
   4. regime type
4. A regime only has a few military officers in charge is a
   1. democracy
   2. aristocracy
   3. anarchy
   4. junta
5. Events where a formal government changes to a different government leadership, structure or system is a:
   1. Weak state
   2. Strong state
   3. regime transition
   4. consolidated government

Answers: 1.c, 2.b, 3.c, 4.d., 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? Where does power and strength come from, and describe 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 to some societies? 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.