The state: What is it and where did it come from?
1. Business aside 2. Defining legitimate authority 3. Defining the (modern) state 4. Origins of the
modern (European) state 5. Theories of state control: Who rules?
In this lecture, we examine the most important political institution of the modern era: the
state. We first try to arrive at a workable definition of the state, beginning with Max Weber’s
formulation. We then explore some historical and geographic variations in the development
of modern states. In the latter part of the lecture, we ask the question “who rules the state?”
We sample arguments from three theoretical camps: pluralism, Marxism, and feminism.
To Do
- GROUP THOUGHTS – make a grid.
Previous questions
• If the question is phrased in a niche way “what is distinctive about the feminist approach” → discuss everything in
reference to feminism → introduce this in a sympathetic way, it is a limitation → rapists have female logic.
Anything in logic extremes. Don’t make this a main object.
1. The definitions of the state provided by Max Weber or in Marxist thought treat it as a single, coherent institution. But, in
reality, states are internally differentiated by branches of government (legislative, executive, etc), ministries and agencies,
and subordinate levels of government (regions, municipalities, etc). How might this internal complexity change our
thinking about “who rules the state?”
2. What is the difference between the legitimacy of the state and the legitimacy of a government and how do these interrelate?
8. Do you agree that the state is the principal organization ordering social relations in today’s societies? 2018
Questions from Ned
On the state: One of the central questions in political sociology is about who controls the state. If you want to write about the state,
you should anticipate dealing with that theme. For example:
1. How have sociologists answered the question of who controls the state? Which explanation do you find most
convincing?
2. In Marxist theory, how are the actions and policies of the state explained
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of a pluralist or liberal theory of the state?
4. In what ways have feminist theorists challenges liberal or Marxist conceptions of the state?
You will noticed these questions are all of a type. They ask you to think not only about what a state is (how it is defined and its nature
in social reality), but also how it relates to other parts of society and forms of social power.
Debates
• Who rules the state?
o Realism – the state is an actor with a degree of independence
o Liberalism + Marxism – see the state as a reflection of societal function.
o Feminism – different institutions.
• Difference between state and government?
• Is the state a coherent organisation?
• How does the state vary across geographical contexts?
• What are the theoretical differences in how the state is perceived between liberalism/pluralism, Marxism and
feminism?
,Definitions
• The state - “A state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force
within a given territory.” Weber 1919 “politics as a vocation”
o Marxist definition → "the entire complex of practical and theoretical activities with which the ruling class not
only justifies and maintains its dominance but manages to win the active consent of those over whom it rules"
Gramsci 1971
o Feminist definition → "administrative, legal, bureaucratic, and coercive systems" that structure social
relations. From this perspective, the state is not a unified entity, but a convergence of institutions that "have
their own histories, contradictions, relations and connections, internally and externally.” Rhode 1994
• Power - “Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will
despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests.” Weber 1921 (1978) Economy and Society
Volume 1
• Authority “the probability that a command with a given specific content will be obeyed by a given group of persons” -
Weber 1921 (1978) Economy and Society Volume 1
• Legitimate authority - Authority is legitimate to the extent that social conduct is oriented toward it on the basis of a
belief that the authority’s commands are “binding on the individual” or correspond to behavior “worthy of imitation.”
Weber 1922 Basic Concepts
o “There can be orientation toward valid authority even where its meaning (as generally understood) is not
necessarily obeyed…”
• Nation-state = territorially bounded entities that join a cultural framework of membership – the nation or the people –
directly to a system of organized rule. (Clemens 2016)
• Imperialism - imperialism as a system of indirect rule, “a strategy of political control over foreign lands that does
not necessarily involve conquest, occupation, and durable rule by outside invaders” Clemens 2016
• Rule - control of or dominion over an area or people:
• Control - the power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events
• Empire - an extensive group of states or countries ruled over by a single monarch, an oligarchy, or a sovereign state:
• Colonialism → “the conquest of a foreign people followed by the creation of an organization controlled by
members of the conquering polity and suited to rule over the conquered territory's indigenous population”
Clemens 2016
• Interest group → “a collective political actor that attempts to influence governmental policy decisions” Knoke & Zhu
2012
Revision Session ‘power, politics + society’
• Power → weber has a one dimension of power → Lukes then introduces 3 Dimensions: agenda-setting + ability to
shape desires. Power is a social phenomenon. We should focus on power being individual or structural (lib v
Marxism). Power appears in social relations + depends on social structures
o Power over or power to → power over = domination; power to = efficacy, the ability for us together to
accomplish something.
o Arendt – wants to redefine power as the capacity of a collective to achieve something + the direction of people
(power over = violence) → this means she is redefining power as relational. Existence of power at an individual
level needs power in the group. This might make power invisible in collectivities.
• The state → Weber has been concerned with the concept of legitimate authority which is a pre-condition to the state. He
then defines the state.
o Who rules the state → crucial for the exam
o (1) the pluralist view: states are targets of organised, interest-group influence, among whom power is
relatively distributed. States is a sight for these competing interests. Power is not concentrated in the hands
of either of these groups. Mixed with business groups, voters
o (2) The Marxist view: capitalist states serve the interests of capital, either because they are directly controlled
(instrumental theory) or share common interests (structural theory)
▪ I.e. owner of big corporations can call PMs = capitalists have direct control of state =
instrumentalist
▪ I.e. people who run state + capitalists have shared interests = structural theory.
o (3) Feminist views of who rules the state “the liberal state is male” MacKinnon → these states reflect
society, they are laissez faire towards social relations. By not positively intervening they reflect the structures of
the state
• Internal differentiation of the state → states are not monolithic institutions. Marxist view of the state views it as internally
riven with conflict.
o Parties at odds with congress
o National government at odds with other parts of the state
o So this undermines the monolithic view of the state → you have different political figures not driven by
capitalism. So the Marxist view works when you view the state as a monolithic entity, but when you break down
the interests of the state it becomes more complex.
, • The welfare + neoliberalism → some institutions were hollowed out. Welfare states were racialised. The new deal was
premised on excluding blacks from it. There have been uneven consequences on racial lines.
• The penal state + social control and punishment → garland argues states have a trade off between penal states +
welfare → we have been shifting towards the penal state.
o Wacquant ‘carceral continuum’ → surplus populations increasingly controlled through penal system. This has
a racialised effect.
o Punitive turn → in policing and punishment.
o Racialised policing and punishment – Solomos 2003. ;
Example questions
1. What does it mean to say that social power is multi-dimensional?
Weber defined power as X; however this theory was later expanded by Lukes
Clear thesis → first para → state your argument. Lean on other authors to support your argument. Draw on sociological examples
to support your theory → lean towards sociological sources. Application is important but make sure you use outside
examples where possible with educational support.
2. In what sense, if at all, do we have racialised forms of policing and punishment today?
- Define racialisation
3. What is distinctive about a feminist theory of the state? Assess its strengths and weaknesses?
1. What do we mean by feminist theory – no singular view. Contrast Rhodes and MacKinnon –
- Distinctive – implies uniqueness
Challenge the premise of the question if you think the question points to the wrong direction.
P1 – Marxist theory – assumes revolution, end of the state, domination occurs via class antagonism.
- Unique about feminism – this will not resolve this.
- Theories of women’s bodies → abortion, shows that women’s freedom can be eroded + dominated.
- Women not being considered as a class → to sue as a class you have to be a group → women don’t constitute a ‘class’. Rhode
reflects on these differences of interests, women are individualised in this case. Reproducing the myth that there is no difference in
gendered difference + power
Weaknesses – MacKinnon → no consideration of racialisation. Exclusion of women with the ‘wrong’ feminism (Rhodes)
Conclusion – challenging because there is no universally accepted theory of the state
Core theorists.
Weber
• The state → cannot be “defined in terms of ends”. Can only be defined in the “specific means peculiar to it…the use of
physical force”
• “A state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a
given territory.” Weber 1919 “politics as a vocation”
• “A compulsory political organization with continuous operations will be called a "state" insofar as its administrative staff
successfully upholds the claim to the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force in the enforcement of its
authority.” Weber. 1922/1962. Basic Concepts in Sociology, p. 119
• This definition necessitates:
o A compulsory political organisation with continuous operations
o Cannot be defined in terms of ‘ends’ (goals, functions) → because many other organisations have/have had
same ends.
o The threat of force is distinctive of political associations + “method of last resort” when all other methods =
failed
• What makes a state ‘modern’?
o Transition to rational-legal basis of authority (constitutions)
o Bureaucratisation → hierarchy + specialisation of functions (offices, ministries, agencies) + depersonalisation
of authority (power resides in office, not person)
