State, Nation, Government, and Political Order: Key Concepts
Key Concepts: State, Nation, Government, and Political Order
Status and Institutions
A set of political institutions that has sovereignty over a territory and its population. Its elements are: territory, population, and government.
Nation
A group of people sharing a common cultural order, origin, traditions, and a sense of common destiny.
Government
The executive power responsible for the civil and military administration of a state. It is typically formed by a president, vice presidents, ministers, and secretaries.
Political Order
A set of institutions through which people acquire, exercise, or influence the distribution of authority and power within a society.
Institution
A set of rules expressing certain values and procedures common to a group of people. These rules define roles and interactions. (e.g., the Church).
Theories on the Origin of the State
- Legal Domination: Authority is based on laws valid for all members of society. Those in power have been chosen through legal proceedings.
- Traditional Domination: Authority rests on the belief that it has always existed. Those who wield power do so through inherited personal authority.
- Charismatic Domination: Authority is exercised by a leader to whom followers attribute charisma. A charismatic demagogue often appears to champion people’s interests to gain their support.
Philosophical Perspectives
- Hobbes: Legitimized absolute monarchy as a form of power.
- Locke: Legitimized the power of parliamentary monarchy.
- Rousseau: Emphasized the freedom of human beings, advocating for democracy.
- Kant (Social Contract): Argued that people should consider entering the state out of moral duty. The state is necessary as an indispensable authority to regulate the arbitrary acts of individuals. Kant defines the state as the union of a multitude of men under legal acts, subject to Kantian philosophy, with exclusive power to make laws.
Critique of Hegel
Hegel saw reason as a power that determines everything in the universe. The ideal state is one totally guided by reason and, therefore, justice.
Critique of the Welfare State
The welfare state entered a crisis in the 1970s, with reduced production and increased unemployment, leading to neoliberal critiques of inflation. Neoliberals argued that the state needed to cover social expenditures, and taxes on capital discouraged investment. Another argument was that employers had to pay social insurance, increasing labor costs.
The New Contractualism
The World Bank (WB) posits that a well-ordered society is a product of a social contract formulated in different phases:
1) Consensus on the principles of justice. 2) A constitutional convention where the principles of justice are enshrined in a constitution. 3) A legislative phase, where laws are formulated. 4) A final stage involving the application of laws.
The neoliberal Nozick argues that state production should be limited to preventing theft and fraud, guaranteeing private contracts, and nothing more.
Self-Governance (Buchanan)
Buchanan considers state interventions irrational. The state implements programs aimed at addressing certain social needs imperfectly. Buchanan studied American society and believed that the exaggerated growth of social policies depends on the state bureaucracy, which becomes a kind of gigantic automaton that dominates citizens. He proposes a new social contract to put limits on the state.