State and Separation of Powers - W1

Soveriegn - to have the monopoly on power and authority within a territorial domain

Nation states involve sovereign government (not to be confused with local, boundary defined states and territories which includes state government, different from federal)

Theories of State

Id: Solidarity, normative values within community, shared identity and affinity, - nation states create ethical obligations to the people within those states, reciprocal trust, part of one community, nationalism (mutual sympathy)

Fu: State exists because of its necessary function to do

Or: A watered down version of functionalist

In: Foreign policy, states relate to other states, regard each other as equals,

The State of Nature:

Thomas Hobbes-

Hobbes believes that the state of humanity and social order needs to be maintained by the State, otherwise detriment and chaos ensues. To protect humanity, an overruling authority needs to be in place.

The Social Contract:

Some rights and freedom given up in order for mutual respect and rights to be protected and maintained.

Table Group Work:

Contractualist: Social contract theory, preserve your own self but giving it up for general community, consenting to state, have to abide,

“Where there is no power and no written rights, man has two powers,

acting only on the basis of the law of nature. The first allows him to do what

he thinks is right to preserve himself and the whole human race. The second

power gives him the right to punish crimes against the law of nature. Man

transfers both these powers to the community in a contract. The first power

of an individual in a state of nature is the basis for the creation of laws to

preserve society. The second power, the power of punishment, becomes the

basis of the executive power.”

  • Give up something to gain something, consensual, voluntary, abiding,

  • no one can force into a contract, volunatrily give up rights underneath a state in order for protection

Individualistic

  • under social contract where people give up some freedom for protection, however there is a higher focus on autonomy, and inherit natural rights, and own private ownership and individual privacy, individuals making free choices

Rationaliost

  • rooted in reason and knowledge, rationally not going to give up all rights but through exchange, reason rises as protection comes in, and rationality shifts to agreeing to social contract

Property Rights

  • construct of economics, how indivudals manage productions and control resources, man and the state of nature, tied to liberty, “the rights to life, liberty, and property” with property being the most important, not free until you have the right to accrue and preserve property.

Nowak discussion of locke outlunes how the formation of the state uses those four above, whereas the ultimate defintion comes to ones right to own property and formed by agreeing to the social contract in order to protect property rights.

locke sees humans as rational beings, who decide as indivudals to go in the contract as a rational thing to do. Hobbes see humans left to their own devices will cause chaos, so we must oblige to the contract in order to protect ourselves and submit to authority. hobbes is fundamentally conservative, where locke is more liberal.

Justifications for State:

Social Contract - hobbes, locke,

→ Explicit - physical contract, written signature, done with consent between two people, social contract explicitly happens when citizenship ceremonies occur (including public servants - oath to sworn in)

→ Tacit - following social contract behaviour, voting because consent is implied, hecs debt, tacit, more legal standing, gaining benefit from the society you are in, engaging in process

→ Hypothetical - a line choosing to be followed, following social norms, you can divert but there is nothing really stopping you before you do it, a friendship, cant really define hypothetical inherently not literal and its not really consent,

(notions of consent)

  • Identify key thinkers, define understanding, highlight weaknesses and benefits

Utilitarianism - as lomg as majority is happy, they can do whatever, maximise welfare of most amount of people but not always about moral obligiations, just creating a good outocome. The state is the mechanism that achives the greatest good for the greatest many - who i sgood, who is greatest many

Fairness and Necessity:

Implicit form of consent, anyone who benefits from state protection has duty to share its burden, state is essential to preventing chaos it becomes citizens duty to ensure that too

The Nightwatchman (Minimal) State: Lockes argument

  • Life, liberty, property, fundamentally based on property rights. Not a strongman enforcer just a watcher to lookout, a more optimist perspective on the nature of humanity

  • only protects property rights

  • however, if state oversteps, people have the moral obligation to overthrow state and rebuild it entirely,

Rival Theories: more critiques than actual theories

ROLES:

TOT- dominate all aspects of all political, social and economic life,

COL - heavily intervnetioanlist, but not socially authoritarian

REL - religions can dictate a way of life, state becomes a way of maintaining state (loosely totaltarian), moral authority above control moreso because it is the good and right thing to do

DEV - involved with the development of the country and its citizens for the greater good and thriving. government is more involved

Seperation of Powers:

Montesquieu

power should not be concentrated within a single actor or government, to prevent tyranny, limiting abuse from the state onto people, individuals would lose freedom if state had too much power over them

check and balances - keeps branch of government, accountability measures so one branch keeps other to account (includes federalism)

horizontal - branches of government

vertical - divisions of government (kind of), chain of accountability

  • prime minister

  • cabinet

  • party overall

  • legislature

  • people

historical:

→ english great rebellion - separated power because king had too much

→ plato and aristotle - (dont refer to p and a if not writing an essay on p and a)

→ french revolution - formalises this whole process

→ american rev - american constituion maps what institutions having power over what so no one can tyranise population

madison:

people are flawed, so people want to concentrate power onto themselves, so institutions are created to keep people in check

example of sep of powers violation:

  • scomo secretly swore himself in six key ministries

  • trump overthrow of executive branch, working less with legislature