CHAPTER 3

POLITICS AND THE STATE

POL101
 Legitimacy and political stability

• Functionalist approach: focuses on the

role or purpose of state institutions
• Organizational approach: defines the state
as the ‘public’ apparatus of government
(e.g. bureaucracy, police, courts, social
security system)
• International approach: views the state
primarily as an actor on the world stage,
as the basic ‘unit’ of international politics
2
 Key features of the state

• Sovereignty

• ‘Public’ character

• Exercise in legitimation

• Instrument in domination

• Territorial association 3
 Features of the state
in international law
• A defined territory

• A permanent population

• An effective government

• Relations with other states

4
 Rival theories of the state
• The pluralist state: the state is a ‘referee’ in
society
• The capitalist state: the state cannot be
understood separately from the economic
structure of society
• The leviathan state: the state pursues separate
interests from those of society
• The patriarchal state: some feminists question
conventional definitions of the state. Liberal
feminists have tended to support the pluralist view
of the state. Radical feminists argue that state
power reflects a deeper structure of oppression in
the form of patriarchy. 5
 Different state forms
• Contrasting interpretations of state power have
clear implications for the desirable role or
responsibilities of the state.
• Among the different state forms that have
developed are the following:
1) Minimal states
2) Developmental states
3) Social democratic-states
4) Collectivized states
5) Totalitarian states
6) Religious states
6
 Eclipse of the state?

• Modern debate about the state is

dominated by talk of retreat, decline and
even collapse.
• The decline of the state is often explained
in terms of the impact of globalization, the
rise of non-state actors and the growing
importance of international organizations.
• The retreat of the state may have been
exaggerated and, in relation to security and
economic development in particular, the
state may be reviving in importance. 7
Terms

8
Terms

9
Terms

10
Terms

11