Chapter 4 The Origins of the Modern State
4.1 Two common factors from three definitions of states
A given terittory
The use of force of the threat of force to control the inhabitants.
- A state
An entity that uses coercion and the threat of force to rule in a given territory.
- A government
A set of people who run the state; they are the means through which state power is exercised.
- A regime
A set of rules, norms, or institutions that determine how the government is constituted, organized and major decisions are made.
- The failed state
A state-like entity that cannot coerce and is unable to successfully control the inhabitants of a given territory.
They failed not because they were unable to meet some policy objective, but because they were unable to provide the functions that define them as states.
4.2 The views of states
4.2.1 Contractarian view
Contractarian view of states focuses on potential conflicts of interest between individuals. This view introduces a hypothetical situation, so-called the state of nature.
Also, scholars advocating contractarian view expect that social contract will solve the problem embedded in the state of nature, leading to build a state.
However, states do not always satisfy the citizens. Citizens are likely to prefer a state to the state of nature when (1) punishment must be sufficiently large and (2) taxation must be sufficiently small.
4.2.2 Predatory view
Predatory view of states focuses on potential conflicts of interest between citizens and the state. According to this view, state formation is not the intent of rulers, but the result. Contrary to the contractarian view, predatory view argues that a state is not a necessary condition for cooperation between individuals. Thus, a state is an apparatus for rulers to exploit resources and to survive.
4.3 Concepts you should know
Contractarian view of the state
Failed state
Nation
Nation-state
Predatory view of the state
State
State of nature