The Nationstate and Sovereignty

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The Nation-state and Sovereignty
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Learning Objectives

• At the end of this series of lectures, you should
  understand
• What is meant by the state.
• Why the state has been seen as the central player
  in world politics.
• Why the nation-state became the preferred method
  of communal organization.
• The state as a solution to the problem of
  violence
• The state as a solution to the problem of
  credibility.

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Learning Objectives cont.

• You should also be able to define/identify the
  following terms
• Sovereignty
• Territoriality
• Treaty of Westphalia

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The State

• The term nation-state (or just state) can be used
  interchangeably with country.
• The term state also refers to the government of a
  particular country.
• The modifier nation is used to denote that
  loyalty to the state, based on some shared
  characteristic (e.g., language, religion,
  history), binds citizens together as a community.

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The State

• States are characterized by three essential
  ingredients
• Sovereignty.
• Territoriality.
• Monopoly on the legitimate use of force.
• Communal myths.

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Sovereignty

• Definition The claim of final legal authority.
• The principle of sovereignty was first codified
  in the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia.
• Conventional date for the start of the state
  system.

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Treaty of Westphalia

• Significant because it established the principle
  that sovereignty rested with secular authorities.
• Previously, sovereignty was a religious concept.

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Territoriality

• Definition Exclusive authority over a fixed
  geographic space.
• Authority has not always been defined in spatial
  terms.
• E.g., Christian church claimed to exercise
  authority over entire body of Christian believers.

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Coercive Monopoly

• The state also possesses a monopoly over the
  legitimate use of force.
• Private uses of force are illegitimate, although
  the state may, in practice, delegate the right to
  use force to private parties.

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Communal Myths

• The nation-state also depends on the emergence of
  a sense of we-ness.
• This sense is driven largely by notions that
  particular groups are connected to one another
  because they share language, history, cultural
  practices, and/or religion.

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The State System

• Political Scientists have long focused on the
  operation of the state system.
• States are thought to be the central actors in
  world politics.
• States have been best able to wield military and
  economic power and been able to shape the way
  international politics is conducted.

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Development of the State

• People have not always lived in a world dominated
  by states.
• At one time, a variety of social organizations
  existed side by side including
• City-leagues (e.g., Hanseatic League).
• City-states (e.g., Athens)
• Territorial states (e.g., France).

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Competitors with The Sovereign State

• City-leagues
• Confederations
• Non-territorial
• Leagues lacked borders and were often
  non-contiguous.
• Lacked final decision making authority

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Competitors with The Sovereign State cont.

• City-states
• Fixed territorial borders.
• Fragmented sovereignty.
• Central city was focal point for external
  relations.
• Dominated secondary cities resisted central
  citys control.

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Evolution of the State System

• Territorial states began to outperform their
  competitors.
• Nation-states turned out to be better able to
  organize for and wage war.
• Central authorities could extract resources more
  effectively
• Nation-states could establish credible
  commitments more effectively than other social
  organizations.
• E.g., standardized weights and measures.

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Will State Sovereignty Survive Globalism?

• What is the future of the state system?