State
From Hobson's Choice
This article is under construction
The state represents the administrative and bureaucratic component of the government. In particular, the state represents the forms of power, particularly coercive power, that are employed in governing a nation.
Frequently the term "state" is used as a synonym for "nation," on the grounds that the state represents the power of the nation. In a diplomatic context, the state of a large, rich nation counts for much more than that of a small, poor one because a state usually draws its power from the resources of the nation. Likewise, "state" is often used to refer to "government" since the government is indeed distinguished from other institutions in a nation through its peculiar affiliation with the state.
Context
The state evolved out of ancient empires; in particular, the Western European template of the state comes from that of Diocletian's reforms of the Roman Empire (293 CE). The novelty of the Roman state was that the military power served to guarantee all social institutions, which reciprocated by financing it.
See Also
External Links
- Prof. E. Wilma van der Veen, "Political Sociology Course Documents," St. Mary's University, Nova Scotia, Canada; see especially "outline of state theories."
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Hilary Bok, "Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat" (2003)
- Tom Christiano, "Authority" (2004)
- Russell Hardin, "The Free Rider Problem" (2003)
- Cary Nederman, "[Niccolò Machiavelli]" (2005)
James R MacLean (22:37, 14 October 2007 (PDT))
