The Modern State and the Nation State Paradigm

The Evolution of Global Mapping: Physical vs. Political

• The Dual Nature of World Atlases: When examining a world atlas, two distinct types of maps generally emerge, serving different purposes and reflecting different realities.
• Physical Maps:
  • Definition: These maps illustrate natural landforms, bodies of water, and geographical features such as mountains, deserts, lowlands, lakes, rivers, and oceans.
  • Temporal Stability: Physical maps have remained relatively unchanged over the last $100$ years. A map from $1970$ compared to a modern one would show minimal differences in natural geography.
• Political Maps:
  • Definition: Unlike physical maps, political maps focus on human-made administrative units and governmental divisions, including countries, states, and cities.
  • Dynamic Nature: Political maps are highly volatile and have changed significantly since the $1970s$. They track shifts in boundaries and locations of administrative units.
  • Human Concentration: These maps often highlight landmarks or specific dots indicating major cities where human society is concentrated or has made a significant impact.
  • Legal Mechanisms: Interestingly, the speaker notes that significant border changes often occur despite a lack of formal, orderly legal mechanisms to promote such changes.

Defining the Nation State Paradigm

• Countries as Human Creations: The concept of a "country" (e.g., Australia, China, India) is a human construct. While it is a core assumption of modern life and policymaking, it is a division of territory that holds no meaning for other biological species.
• The Nation State as a Paradigm: This is a specific historical moment where a particular idea of political organization prevails across thinking and practice. It is described as a "dominant way our world is divided."
• The Dynamic Components of the Nation State:
  • The State (The Clubhouse): Represents the physical infrastructure, including a clear set of borders, a central government, and a system of laws. It is the "building" and the "rules."
  • The Nation (The Members): Represents a group of people who share a common culture, history, language, and background. They are the individuals inside the "clubhouse" who identify with one another.
• The Concept of Sovereignty: Together, the state and nation create a legitimate and sovereign entity known as a country.
• Tools of National Identity: Modern nation states use specific tools to ensure the population feels like they belong to the same "team":
  • Citizenship: A legal status conferring specific rights and duties within a state.
  • National School Systems: Education systems that standardize the teaching of history, language, and national values.
  • Cultural Symbols: Anthems, holidays, and symbols that reinforce a shared identity.
  • Centralized Administration: A single government that collects taxes, manages the military, and creates laws.

Key Social Theorists of the State

• Max Weber (Founding Father of Sociology):
  • Definition of the State: The state is the entity that claims a "monopoly of the legitimate use of force" (or "legitimate use of violence").
  • Coercion and Authority: Only the state has the recognized authority to use coercion, such as incarcerating individuals or punishing crimes. Individual citizens do not have this right.
  • Institutional Enforcement: This monopoly is exercised through specific institutions, including the police, the military, and the court systems.
• Anthony Giddens (Contemporary Sociologist):
  • Concept of the "Bordered Power Container": Giddens describes the state as a container where political authority and the legitimate use of force are organized within clearly defined territorial borders.
  • Jurisdiction: For example, clear borders define where Australia's jurisdiction ends and New Zealand's jurisdiction begins. This strict territoriality is a relatively new social experiment, roughly $200$ to $300$ years old.

Core Assumptions of the Modern Nation State Model

• World Division: The world is assumed to be divided into separate, distinct countries.
• Defined Boundaries: Each country must have recognized borders, a government, and its own unique laws.
• Homogeneity Assumption: It is assumed that each country contains one main national group sharing history, culture, and language (e.g., people born in the geographic land of Australia predominantly identify as Australians).
• Self-Governance and Sovereignty: Each country is in charge of itself. A state holds the highest authority within its borders and is not controlled by another state.
  • Example: Australia cannot dictate the internal affairs of Japan, and vice versa.
• Single Legitimate Government: Each territory is assumed to have one government with the capacity to enforce laws and maintain a monopoly on force.
• Non-Intervention: Countries should not interfere in the internal affairs of others.
• Belonging and Compliance: People belong to a specific country and are expected to follow its laws and fulfill responsibilities in exchange for rights.
• Border Control and Membership: The central government has the ultimate authority to decide who enters, who stays, and who becomes a citizen.
  • Accepted Discrimination: The speaker notes that whereas anti-discrimination laws protect citizens, states often legally discriminate against foreigners based on health conditions, age, or potential burden to the state when issuing visas.
• National Interest: Governments are expected to act in the interest of their own people and territory rather than prioritizing the global good.
• Securitization and Integrity: Maintaining the integrity of borders and national identity is a top priority. This “obsession” with security can justify extraordinary measures, such as the use of violence or war to protect the state's existence.

Historical Transitions: From Empires to States

• Pre-Modern Political Organizations:
  • The Greek Polis (City-States): Authority was centered on the city. Areas between cities were often "no man's land" with no clear owner. This differs from the modern view that every inch of land must belong to a state.
  • The Roman Empire: Expansion was achieved through conquest rather than fixed borders. Frontiers were flexible zones rather than permanent boundaries. There was no concept of "equality" between political communities; the goal was dominance.
  • Medieval Europe: Authority was highly fragmented and overlapping between kings, local lords, and the Church. Sovereignty was not exclusive, and power was often based on personal loyalties rather than defined territory.

Milestones in the Development of the European State Model

• Temporal Origin: The nation state model became popular in Europe during the $1700s$ and $1800s$.
• Peace of Augsburg ($1555$): A milestone related to religion where it was recognized that Lutheranism and Catholicism could be official religions within specific regions of the Holy Roman Empire. It began the process of tying culture/religion to political authority on specific pieces of land.
• Peace of Westphalia ($1648$): Often cited by textbooks as the landmark that created the modern nation state. It reinforced links between sovereignty and territory, reduced the power of the Catholic Church, and increased the authority of local princes.
• Treaty of the Pyrenees ($1659$): Established one of the oldest modern linear borders (between France and Spain), shifting away from loose geographical frontiers to precise territorial boundaries.

Global Spread and Colonialism

• Colonial Exportation: The European model of the territorial state was exported to the rest of the world during the colonial era.
• The Scramble for Africa: Colonies were divided using fixed, straight-line boundaries with little regard for the ethnic, cultural, or historical realities of the people living there.
• Post-Independence Persistence: When colonies gained independence, they largely retained these arbitrary colonial borders, leading to many contemporary disputes and tensions.
• Example (Brazil): Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country in Latin America because it was a Portuguese colony, reflecting the marks of colonial expansion on national identity.

The Role of the United Nations in Modern Political Organization

• Formalization: Following World War II, the United Nations (UN) formalized the nation state as the base unit of international organization.
• Membership: The UN recognizes approximately $190$ to $200$ nation states. Membership is strictly based on being a sovereign, territorially defined state with a representative government.
• Institutionalization of Assumptions: The UN Charter legitimized the assumptions of sovereignty, non-interference, and the right of states to control their own borders.

Implications for Public Policy

• Policy Priorities: The nation state paradigm shapes how policymakers view the world, determining which problems are prioritized and what kind of policies are developed.
• Central Authority: Public policy as a field assumes a central authority (the state) that is capable of making and enforcing decisions. While this is the case in Australia, the speaker notes it is not the case in many other parts of the world.
• Final Perspective: Despite challenges from religion, empires, and global changes, the nation state remains the dominant framework for political authority and policy making today.