POLI 130: The State

Vocabulary flashcards defining key concepts, dimensions, and classifications of stateness based on POLI 130 lecture notes.

State

A human community that claims a monopoly over the legitimate use of physical force in a given territory.

Regime

A set of formal and informal rules that define where powers are located and how they are used.

Government

The set of political elites in charge of running the state.

Scope

A dimension of stateness referring to the different functions or goals taken on by the government (i.e., "What does the state do?").

Capacity

A dimension of stateness referring to the ability to plan and implement policies and enforce rules (i.e., "How well can the state get things done?").

Reach

A dimension of stateness defined as the ability of the state to project its power across the whole territory.

State strength

The combination of state scope plus state capacity.

Indicators of state capacity

Key measures of state capacity, which include violent crime, tax capacity, and public goods provision.

"Brown areas" (Guillermo O’Donnell)

Areas within an otherwise strong state where institutional capacity is either nonexistent or weak.

Warlords

Actors who control militias, movements, and even currency.

Liberal states

High capacity states with limited state intervention, such as the U.S. and Chile.

Developmental state

An interventionist state with high capacity, such as Korea and Taiwan.

Scandinavian welfare state

An interventionist state with high capacity, such as Sweden.

Weak states

Low capacity states with limited state intervention, such as much of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Collapsed states

An extreme outcome of low capacity and limited state intervention, such as Haiti, Yemen, and Somalia.

Bloated, inefficient state

A low capacity, interventionist state, such as much of Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s.

Barre dictatorship

The regime in Somalia whose overthrow led to a political vacuum, the rise of Somali warlords, and Al-Shabaab.