Introduction to Political Science (POL 101)

Lecture 03:
The ‘State’ in Political Science

Dr. Noor Mohammad Sarker

Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science and Sociology
North South University, Dhaka
Email: noor.sarker@northsouth.edu
 Introduction

 ‘State’ is a natural and universal institution.

 Since the end of the WWII, it has become a core discussion in the
study of political science.
 Emergence of independent states with the end of colonialism and
the Cold War.
 States’ growing role in setting the domestic and international agenda
for its citizens.
 States have become the primary source of legitimacy for its citizen in
the world.
 Hence, Politics is often understood as the study of the state, the
analysis of its institutional organizations, the evaluation of its impact
on society, and so on.
 The Concept of ‘State’ in Political Science

 The concept of ‘state’ existed throughout the recorded history of

political science, such as City-states in the Ancient Greece.
 The term ‘State’ is the product of the Sixteenth Century political
developments in Europe.
 Niccolo Machiavelli was the first to give the term a scientific
meaning.
 The term ‘state’ has been used in political science to refer to a
puzzling range of things, including:
◦ A collection of institution
◦ A territorial unit
◦ A philosophical idea
◦ An instrument of coercion and oppression
Basic Elements of ‘State’

 Population
 Territory [Father Land/ Mother Land]
 Government [system through which state expresses its will]
 Sovereignty
◦ Internal Sovereignty
◦ External Sovereignty
 International Recognition
 How the States Were Formed?

 The Approach of Divine Origin

◦ The oldest approach about the origin of the state
◦ The state did not come into being by any effort of man.
◦ It is created by God.
◦ The approach is often based on religious explanations.

 The Patriarchal Approach

◦ Major Proponents: Aristotle and Henry Maine
◦ “Just as men and women unite to form families, so many families
unite to form villages and the union of many villages forms the
state which is a self-supporting unit” [Artistotle]
 How the States Were Formed?

 The Matriarchal Approach

◦ In the primitive society, the mother rather than the father was
the head of the family.
◦ The kinship was established through the mother.

 The Force Approach

◦ The force or might prevailed over the right in the primitive
society.
◦ A man physically stronger established his authority over the less
strong persons.
◦ The strongest person in a tribe is, therefore, made the chief or
leader of that tribe.
◦ After establishing the state by subjugating the other people in
that place the chief used his authority in maintaining law and
order and defending the state from the aggression from outside.
 How the States Were Formed?

 The Social Contract Approach

◦ Most influential Approach
◦ Major proponents: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
◦ The state came into existence out of a contract between the
people and the sovereign at some point of time.

 The Marxist Approach

◦ The Marxists are of the view that the state is a creation by the
class-struggle with the help of force.
◦ The state came in to ensure the right of the dominant class to
exploit the other classes.
Goals/Objectives of the State
Goals/Objectives of the State

 Security
◦ Survival is the fundamental element of security. It entails the
very existence of the state, such that other states do not
conquer it and that internal forces do not destroy it.
◦ Autonomy refers to the capacity of the state to act within its
own boundaries without intervention into or control of its
affairs by external actors.
◦ Influence involves the state’s ability to alter the actions of
external actors in desired ways by means of persuasion or
inducements.
◦ Prestige is the desirable situation wherein external actors
admire and respect the state.
◦ Dominance is the use of power or violence to enable the state
to impose direct control over external actors.
Goals/Objectives of the State

 Stability
◦ Order maintenance is the capacity of the state to ensure social
peace for its citizens through the prevention of individual and
group violation of societal norms, especially those involving
violence.
◦ Political development refers to the concentration of political
authority in a state that has strong capabilities to make and
enforce effective policies and to gain support from its citizens.
◦ Democratization is the process of institutionalizing a
democratic system of governance, which is achieved by
allowing free elections, limiting the actions of the rulers, and
guaranteeing civil and political rights.
Goals/Objectives of the State

 Prosperity
◦ Economic growth refers to the increasing scale, complexity, and
specialization of the productive system and of the goods
produced.
◦ Economic development is the capacity of the political economy
to obtain, manage, and transform resources into valued goods.
◦ Welfare distribution refers to the private or public allocation of
adequate and increasing levels of valued goods to enhance the
quality of life of the citizenry.
Theories of State [How States Function?]
 The Pluralist/Liberal Theory
◦ This theory offers a reductionist view of state
◦ Focuses more on ‘government’
◦ The state acts as an ‘umpire’ or ‘referee’ [neutral role]
◦ It keeps ‘the state’ just as a concept, and its institutions, such as the
courts, the civil service and the military, as independent actors in their
own right, rather than as elements of a broader state machine.
◦ A state represents the common good or public interest.
◦ Inspired from the ‘social contract’ approach of state-formation.

 The Neo-Pluralist Theory

◦ The theory offers a more critical view of the state
◦ Modern industrialized states are both more complex and less
responsive to popular pressures
◦ Example: business enjoys a ‘privileged position’ in relation to
government that other groups clearly cannot rival.
Theories of State [How States Function?]
 The Marxist Theory
◦ Opposite to Pluralist or Liberal Theory of State
◦ To Marxists, state is nothing but an instrument of class oppression
through the exploitation of economic structure
◦ So, there is a need of revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat

 The Neo-Marxist Theory

◦ Major Proponent: Antonio Gramsci
◦ In a state system, domination of the ruling class is achieved by
ideological manipulation, not only by economic structure.
◦ State as the terrain on which the struggle amongst interests, groups
and classes is conducted [Continuous struggle for hegemony]
Theories of State [How States Function?]
 The Leviathan Theory/ New Right Theory
◦ The non-reductionist/dominant view of state [Classical Liberalism]
◦ State threatens both individual liberty and economic security
◦ State pursues interests that are separate from those of society
◦ The growth of state as the absolute power

 The Feminist Theory

◦ Liberal feminists: state intervention as a means of redressing gender
inequality and enhancing the role of women
◦ Radical feminists: state power reflects a deeper structure of
oppression in the form of patriarchy
Types of State
 Minimal State
◦ The minimal state is the ideal of classical liberals
◦ In a state, individuals enjoy the widest possible realm of freedom.
◦ Three key functions of the state:
1. The state exists to maintain domestic order.
2. It ensures that contracts or voluntary agreements made between
private citizens are enforced
3. It provides protection against external attack.

 Developmental State
◦ A developmental state is one that intervenes in economic life with the
specific purpose of promoting industrial growth and economic
development.
◦ Ex: Japan during Meiji Period (1868-1912)
Types of State
 Social Democratic State
◦ Also known as, welfare states
◦ Whereas developmental states practice interventionism in order to
stimulate economic progress, social-democratic states intervene with
a view to bringing about broader social restructuring, usually in
accordance with principles such as fairness, equality, and social justice.
◦ Ex: Norway, Sweden, Denmark

 Collectivized State
◦ Collectivized states bring the entirety of economic life under state
control.
◦ Ex: USSR and throughout Eastern Europe during the Cold War period.
Types of State
 Totalitarian State
◦ The essence of totalitarianism is the construction of an all-embracing
state, the influence of which penetrates every aspect of human
existence.
◦ The central pillars of such regimes are:
1. A comprehensive process of surveillance
2. Terroristic policing
3. A pervasive system of ideological manipulation and control.
◦ Ex: Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR

 Religious State
◦ A religious state is driven by the tendency within religious
fundamentalism to reject the public/private divide and to view religion
as the basis of politics.
◦ Ex: The establishment of an ‘Islamic state’ in Iran as a result of the
1979 revolution.