The State and Sovereignty

What is the State? (And the characteristics it has)

The state is a permanent structure of authority and a legal/political structure of power

The state has existed since early complex societies

A modern state:

• has centralized authority

• Makes and enforces laws

• Controls a defined territory

Statehood was wanted so groups could express national identity

What came out of the Peace of Westphalia

It created the key principle of modern statehood: sovereignty

The principle of non-interference in state’s internal affairs was reinforced

What is the State not?

It is not the government

• government = temporary leaders who run the state

• State = permanent structure of authority

(The government changes but the state remains)

It is not the Nation

• nation = people who share culture, history, and ethnicity

• state = legal and political structure of power

States often try to build nation identity (nation-building) → e.g. the US uses flags, oaths, and the Constitution

What are the theories of the state?

Liberal-pluralist

Social-democratic

Marxist

Feminist

Self-serving (leviathan) state

state theories characteristics

Politics revolves around the state

Rights, liberty, equality, and power → only meaningful in relation to the state

Political ideologies analyze or try to control state power

pressure/interest groups try to influence state power

Liberal-pluralist view

Rejects Marxist class focus

Views society as many competing groups and individuals, and sees the state as a neutral referee

The state exists to protect natural rights → if rights are violated leader can be removed (officials must be help accountable)

Based on the social contract theory

Social-democratic view (and why this view was formed)

Believes the state should promote social justice, fairness, and equality → state provides education, healthcare, and welfare

Some industries should be publicly owned

Social democratic was developed due to economic crises, rise of labour movements, and war demands

Marxist view

Believes the state reflects economic class structure → state is therefore not neutral (it serves the ruling capitalist class)

Protected capitalist interests → reforms still protect capitalism

Believes the working class must seize the state → in true communism the state eventually disappears

Feminist view

Believes the state is dominated by men and reflects male interests

Women are underrepresented in politics and often placed in low-prestige roles (e.g. health, education) → Women must work harder for political power

Self-serving (Leviathan) state (and in what regimes it is seen in)

The state pursues its own power

Crushes opposition and controls society fully → uses technology and surveillance for control

Seen in fascist, communist, military, or religious regimes

Major characteristics of the state

All states have

• population

• Territory

• Longevity

• Law

• Sovereignty

Population of the state characteristics

No min or max size

A large population doesn’t mean the state is more powerful → Technology, industry, and education matter more

Territory of the state characteristics

Th state must control a recognized geographical area → the borders can change

Territory must be recognized by its population and other states

Longevity in the state characteristics

States claim long history for legitimacy

Governments change; states continues

Law and government in states characteristics (and characteristics of international law)

The state is the highest legal authority in its territory

The state is only bound by international agreements it accepts

The state is based on the rule of law: law restrains power, and power must follow legal procedures

International law:

• created by equal states

• Enforcement depends on state power and self-interest

External sovereignty characteristics

Legal equality between states

Must be recognized by other states → Recognition by powerful states is especially important

Legal sovereignty characteristics

Type of internal sovereignty

The state is the sole law-maker in its territory

There is no higher legal authority to the state

Citizens must obey state law

Peace treaties do not remove legal sovereignty

Practical sovereignty characteristics (and what it can be weakened by)

Type of internal sovereignty

The state’s ability to enforce laws

Depends on power

Strong states have more practical sovereignty

Weakened by:

• internal revolt

• Civil war

Legitimate violence

A legal right to pass laws and what consequences of breaking those laws would be

• having a monopoly over this implies the state is the only institution that can enforce legitimate violence

Sovereignty

The right to have absolute and unlimited power, either legal or political, within the territory of a state

• the power to make and enforce laws without having to check with a higher authority

Westphalian System

A global system based on the principle of international law that each state has its own sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs

• along as they don’t interfere with other country’s domestic affairs

Indigenous challenges to the state-centric view

Question the state’s ultimate power by saying indigenous nations have authority over their own lands/waters and natural resources

Show that modern states are built on colonial foundations by pointing out that indigenous worldviews challenge and exist outside the dominant state system

Encourage new ways of thinking about power, including sharing power within countries and imagining political systems that go beyond state borders