The Development of the Modern State
Newton, K., & van Deth, J. W. (2020). Chapter 1: The Development of the Modern State. In Foundations of Comparative Politics (pp. 15–35). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/foundations-of-comparative-politics/C261B8D6D6DAA4F83DBEDA6C078BF47F#contents
What Is a State?
In modern society, a way that a government is organised is by employing the model of a ‘state’. Although each state follows the baseline of what makes a state a ‘state’ exists, it would be an oversimplification of the complexities within the political and government system of each state to say they are all the same. Each has its own functions, systems, and internationally recognised (although disputes exist for Israel and Palestine) places. There are also other terms each state may use to describe themselves which can signify how they have evolved from a state but still have baseline state recognition.
These include:
→ Empire
→ Country
→ Nation
→ Nation-State
→ Political System
“Every state is a community of some kind, and every community is established with a view to some good ... But, if all communities aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the highest of all, and which embraces all the rest, aims, and in greater degree than any other, at the highest good.” (Aristotle, On Man in the Universe, ed., L. R. Loomis, Black, 1943: 249)
As above, Aristotle describes a state as a community and it is regarded as the most crucial to have so politics and life within the society can be ordered and organised. As the state is to represent its people, all states should include all communities, however, some states in society today isn’t representative.
→ According to Human Dignity Trust as of 2024, there are currently 65 states that criminalise same-sex relationship behaviour, which disregards the original definition of a state, which is to include all people who lives under that (Human Dignity Trust, 2024).
Aristotle also points out the importance of power and control within in a state in order to organise its people and how that society will be run, otherwise if there was not one body in charge, chaos would ensue. States are created by a body having a concentration of power, dominance, and influence over others that develop to form a representative body running its public.
Territory, People, Sovereignty
On the differences between states, some provide beneficial welfare to its people where public in other states experience human rights abuses, sometimes all chalked up to 'bettering of the state. What every state has to deem themselves as one includes:
→ A territory with borders that can withstand
→ Citizens that agree (although, implicitly) to abide by the laws of the state that are bound by that territory
→ Sovereignty / Ruling leadership over the people, representing the people
Internal: Within their territory, each state has freedom to act as it likes and is sole from any other powers, internal or external.
External: Internationally state-recognised by others
There is difference between sovereignty and power as one may have sovereignty ruling like any other state, the amount of power they hold can be vastly different than other states due to its own circumstances. Also, not every person who is within a state may be a citizen, which is because they could be a denizen, but also because attributes of themselves may be considered offensive to the power-holders. It is the responsibility of each state to look after their citizens and protect them from any harm, and if the power-holders within a state are deemed unable to do so, the United Nations step in to take control.
Max Weber, a social scientist from Germany, argued that a state’s use of sovereignty can only be accepted if there is clear separation between how one act is legal vs how it is legitimate. A body must be responsible for monopolising this which is how governments are created.
→ Physical force by state can only be considered legal if its citizens deem it legitimate.
The Rise of the Modern State
It is important to note that there is no law or legality stating how / when a state can appear and when it can revoke its own statehood / disappear. Also, the concept of a ‘state’ is embedded with values and ideologies stemming from European and Western theories / perspectives, so when looking into other states it is crucial to recognise that statehood may not work for all cultures due to the Westernisation of it. The signing of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 allowed for this to happen after it recognised how states have a territory, people, and sovereignty.
Generally speaking when states arise, it often happens by three ways:
→ Transformation (exisiting polities rose and developed to create larger political organisations that further evolved into a state.)
→ Unification (independent polities that were scattered along one territory came together to establish a political order.)
→ Secession (where state creation happens through the dissolution of other polities.)
After the formation of a state, comes the development that occurs in four phases:
→ State formation
Process of getting other communities within the territory to comply, often done with military and economic force. Internal order is then achieved as public service institutions, security defenses, transportation and communication services are built to provide for its citizens and improve welfare.
→ Nation building
Getting citizens to agree on a certain way of living life including the shared morals, values, and beliefs; creating a shared culture. From this, the creation of a flag, emblems, hymns, anthems were made to symbolise the culture and that nation.
→ Mass democracies
Democratic states and political parties were formed to allow people to vote in government and have say in who is elected as leader.
→ Welfare states
Distributing services that provide equal means, access, and opportunity to all citizens.
However, not all state manage this process fully, sometimes being interrupted by war, occupation by other states, or even revolution.
If need help on phases of capitalism and how capitalism created states, look on Catalysts: War and Capitalism part of reading
If looking for theories on how to approach state formation, look at section State Theories