State Formation, Sovereignty, and
the Emergence of the
-
Why
did the “sovereign territorial state” emerge as the dominant actor in
international politics?
-
Why
did empires and city-states fade?
-
Why
did sovereignty become the organizing principle in world politics, and not
heteronomy of feudal period?
-
Will
the sovereign territorial state last?
Key Terms
States:
“Coercion-wielding organizations that are distinct from households and kinship
groups and that exercise clear priority in some respects over all other
organizations within substantial territories” (Tilly,
1992)
-
no
mention of legitimacy
-
no
“monopoly” on the use of force, legitimate or otherwise
-
not
predominant in all respects
Sovereignty:
no legitimate authority superior to ruler
Territorial:
relating to physical boundaries (not by associational or ascriptive
criteria)
Sovereign
territorial state (STS): a state that is sovereign over a territory.
-
no
superior authority over state controlling defined space
-
STS
governs multiple, contiguous regions and cities via centralized,
differentiated, and autonomous institutions (Tilly,
1992:2)
o
empires
often non-contiguous and lacked strong centralized or differentiated structures
(tribute over taxation)
o
city-states
did not rule multiple regions
o
city-leagues
lacked centralized
Why did the STS prevail?
“War makes
the state, and states make war” (Tilly)
-
feedback
between war-making and statemaking
-
STS
more effective at making war and obtaining wealth than other state forms
-
Balance
of capital and coercion
o
States
that balanced the accumulation and concentration of capital (wealth) and
coercion succeed and drove out other types of states
o
“Bargains”
between coercion-wielding rulers, capital-controlling cities, and other groups
(land-lords, merchants, peasants)
o
urbanization
crucial to success of STS – multiple cities inside states
Extension of STS System/Society[1]
Feudal Period,
1000-1400
-
reliance
on tribute and vassals to wage wars
-
Hundred
Years’ War, 1337-1453
Emergence of Sovereign
States 1400-1700
-
Extensive
reliance on foreign loans and mercenaries for war
o
Thirty
Years’ War, 1618-48
o
War
of the League of
‘Nationalization’ of
STS, 1700-1850
-
Increased
reliance on domestic sources of money & manpower
o
War
of the Spanish Succession, 1701-13
o
Seven
Years’ War, 1755-63
o
French
Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815
o
Latin
American independence movements
Nationalism…
-
…political
ideology in which nations should govern themselves; belief that the boundaries
of the nation should be congruent with the boundaries of the state.
-
Nations:
ethno-cultural communities usually sharing common ancestry, language, and
founding myths; ‘imagined communities’ (B. Anderson)
-
basis
for founding new states and legitimating old ones.
o
‘nations’
seeking states and states shape or create nations.
o
Italian
and German unification by 1871.
‘Specialization’ of
STS, 1850-1950
-
States separate external from internal security and
civil from military roles
-
rise
of national welfare states
o
European
imperial expansion into
o
World
War I, 1914-1918
o
World
War II, 1939-1945
o
Decolonization,
1946-1970
Globalization of STS,
1950-
-
STS
form adopted globally
-
Rise
of international organizations
-
No
direct war between great powers
o
US-Soviet
Cold War, 1947-1991