Violence and political order

1st dimension of power

Robert Dahl, following Hobbes

• Power - Actor A makes an observable attempt to cause actor B to what A intends but that B wouldn’t otherwise do 

• Politics – decision making in identifiable sites of political power with identifiable agents and institutions 

Dimension 2 of power

Bachrach and Baratz

• Power – A secures his objectives covertly (does not mean no power is exercised) 

• Politics – silence and fear, feelings and acts 

Dimension 3 of power

Steven Lukes

• Power – most effective way for A to secure his objectives is to shape B’s beliefs about her own interests – example is a housewife brainwashed to think that is her duties 

• Bourdieu – symbolic violence – this process through which dominated individuals come to accept, repeat and defend a view of themselves as inferior 

• Politics – involves educational, economic, religious and social systems/discourses. Also involves shaping political identities 

Hobbes (1588-1679)

Key text - Leviathan (1651)

what authority should you obey? State or church?

the only way humans will escape violence is if they agree on a single authority - but who has the right to command?

human nature actually tears us apart, humans live naturally in distrust and rivalry of otherst

state of nature

thought experiment

means a state without a legitimate authority - would descend into ‘war of all against all’

however humans have a shared instinct of self-preservation, which leads to a duty and interest in obeying natural law

social contract theory

the result of the idea of rivals who don’t trust eachother achieve harmony

transfers each individual’s right to self-preservation to a single party which therefore has absolute power of punishment - the leviathan

the only role of the state is to preserve the lives of those who signed the contract - unlimited violence

John Locke (1632-1704)

Key text - second treaties on government (1690)

how do we justify rebellion against a tyrant?

state of nature = the rights and duties human beings have as creatures of god

natural law = what we realise is essential to the survival of the human species

in the state of nature humans live in precarious harmony - no authority to solve conflicts that do arise

believes that we consent to the violence of the state but we allow it based on a set of conditions

John Locke’s political society

not a total abandonment of liberty

new sovereign must not abuse it’s power

government must not attack life

Max Weber (1864-1920)

how do we make sense of the changes brought about by the industrial revolution?

this changes the state by making it focus more on controlling the population

before industrial revolution humans understood the world via theodicies and cosmology, now we are too systematic which makes us disenchanted with the world

advocated for scientific method and a value-free assessment of society

the violence of the modern state is characterised by it’s codification

Max Weber’s perfect society

institution which successfully has monopoly of legitimate use of force

new form of authority which is now legal-rational - the office has the power, not the individual leader

legal-rational

laws and rules are legitimate and created via public choice, so those who enforced them are seen as legitimate authority and respected