The State: Formation, Theories, and Types
The State: Formation, Theories, and Types
Formation of the State
The state consists of a series of constituent components. Every state has a number of elements that constitute it as such. These are:
- Sovereignty
- Territory
- Population
- Administrative Machinery
Sovereignty
A basic implication of state sovereignty is that the state’s exercised power cannot be questioned. If necessary, the state must prove that it can hold this privilege to other players in the system, whether they are internal or external.
Territory
The state controls a certain portion of land, air space, inland rivers and sea space, and the resources contained within. This portion is strictly territorial. On this portion of land, the state has unquestioned authority.
Population
This comprises all people residing within the state’s territory.
Government
The government acts on behalf of the state. As Argentine constitutionalist, Germain Bidart Campos (1927-2004), states: “the government represents the state and acts on their behalf” or that “it is the men of state power holders who make the government” (Bidart Campos, G., Basic Lessons About Politics, Buenos Aires, EDIAR, 1987).
Civil Society
Civil society includes all economic and social actors from private and civil institutions. However, state institutions (civil bureaucracy, military, and safety) are also located within civil society. This is primarily because both…
The Political System
The term “political system” includes the sum of the state and its practices. So, when we talk about the political system, we are not just talking about the political institutions of the state, but also all practices and political processes that are carried out by the actors within the system. The definition of political system provided by Portantiero, in his book Production Order, brings clarity to this conceptual framework:
“A set of political institutions and processes, governmental and non-governmental, played by social actors constituted by their character. The system is derived from the relative interdependence of its elements and the existence of border areas that limit the system in relation to its environment. Every political system includes interactions between rulers and ruled within a political culture.”
Major Schools of Thought Around the State
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Weber’s realistic analysis (as opposed to formal legal) of the modern state focuses on factors such as religion (the development of Protestantism), and the advancement of trade as a source of wealth, and subsequently, of capitalism. Weber defines capitalism as “a modern phenomenon.”
Weber states:
“Ultimately, the factor which produced capitalism is the permanent rational company, rational accounting, rational technology and the rational legally-based conduct.”
Weber understands politics as clashes between different social classes for economic and political power. These relationships between people are ultimately power relations.
Weber asks: why are there men who are in a position of domination and why does the majority of individuals accept this domination as “legitimate”? He answers this question by constructing ideal types of legitimate domination:
- Traditional Rule: Based on “the belief in the sanctity of the noble orders and powers.”
- Charismatic Domination: Based on the “gifts” of the leader and the belief in their supernatural virtues.
- Legal Domination: This is the ideal type for the modern state. It rests on the law, which is impersonal and rational.
In capitalist societies, characterized by being mass societies, Weber predicts increasing bureaucratization. The modern state administers, manages, and controls through bureaucracy. It consists of qualified staff, organized on rational and impersonal principles, and held together through the extraction of resources from society.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
Marx and Engels’ critique of liberalism and the bourgeois state remains relevant today. Their key points regarding the state are:
- The state is an instrument of the bourgeoisie for the exploitation of the proletariat.
- Bourgeois policy is ineffective for the emancipation of the proletariat.
- Social change will come only from the self-managing organization of the proletariat.
Types of State
Absolutist State
This type of state existed in Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The absolutist state consolidated power under the monarch. It was characterized by the concentration of power and the separation of church and state. Questions of government and administration began to be considered in terms of rationality.
Liberal State
Liberalism, influenced by John Locke and Adam Smith, emerged between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its key tenets include:
- Defense of the individual.
- Defense of freedom in all spheres.
- Defense of private property.
- Division of powers.
- Importance of law and constitutionalism.
Liberalism views the law as a product of debate and consensus, not divine origin.
Welfare State
This emerged after the 1929 Wall Street crash. It is based on state intervention in the economy and society, aiming to create social homogeneity and high employment.
Neoliberal State
This emerged after the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, championed by figures like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Its core principles include market-led economics, open markets, privatization, reduced government spending, and labor flexibility.
Types of Knowledge
Ruben Pardo classifies knowledge based on four criteria: object of study, class of statements, methods, and kind of truth.
- Vulgar/Empirical Knowledge: Obtained through everyday experience, passed down through generations, and addresses basic needs.
- Scientific Knowledge: Obtained through deliberate research, goes beyond the empirical, and seeks to understand underlying causes and laws.
Reasoning
Deductive reasoning moves from general principles to specific conclusions. Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to general conclusions, which are likely but not certain.