Defining the State and Its Historical Context

Defining the State

• The world is organized into political communities known as "states"
• States are the core units of political organizations globally
• States hold a special status under International Law, with no authority above them
• States are not fixed entities: they are arbitrary, not homogeneous, and often contested
• Three defining features of a state:
  • Territory
  • People
  • Sovereignty - the supreme power and authority, independent from other states
    • The state has a monopoly of physical force (Weber)
    • This legal monopoly is legitimate (accepted by citizens) and exercised by the government

The State in Historical Context

• The modern state is a European invention and emerged around the Treaty of Westphalia (1648)
• The Treaty established the principle of territorial sovereignty, which is often considered the foundation of the modern state
• Further developments that solidified the state include: mercantilism, the American and French revolutions, the rise of nationalism in the 19th century, capitalism, industrialization, the rise of welfare states, colonialism (spreading European statehood principles globally), and decolonization (leading to the creation of new states)

Problematising the State

• The notion of the state, including concepts like sovereignty and property in international law, is rooted in a Western, modern context
• Linklater argues that the modern state is a "totalizing project" with five monopolistic powers:
  • Right to monopolize legitimate means of violence over its territory
  • Exclusive right to tax within its jurisdiction
  • Right to demand undivided political allegiance
  • Sole authority to adjudicate disputes between citizens
  • Sole subject of rights and representation in international law
• By binding citizens into a "state community," the state alters their moral and political community, separating them from the rest of the world.

Comparing States

• All states are equal under international law, but not in their political sovereignty (capacity to act autonomously)
• States share common core functions:
  • External security
  • Internal security

Pressure Groups

• Pressure groups are groups that attempt to influence government policies by exerting pressure on policymakers
• The effectiveness of pressure groups is often highest at the early stages of agenda-setting and policy formulation
• Corporate power has more influence on government policy compared to other pressure groups

Corporatism and Tripartism

• Corporatism involves organizing the political system based on interest representation by corporate groups who collaborate on government policies
• Neocorporatism is a democratic, loose form of corporatism
• Tripartite consultations between employers, employees, and the government form the basis of the social model in many European countries

Pressure Groups and Democracy

• Pressure groups can reflect the pluralism of society
• They can introduce new issues onto the political agenda
• They can contribute to deliberative democracy
• They can have a positive impact on a democracy's participatory features
• However, interest representation can be uneven
• Pressure groups can pose a threat to democracy if they become too powerful

Political Culture at the EU Level

• Political culture is a pattern of attitudes, values, and beliefs about politics, both conscious and unconscious, explicit and implicit
• Difficult to speak of a unified EU political culture due to heterogeneity
• Components of political culture: pride and identity, competencies, citizenship, political support, trust, and alienation

EU Political Culture and Citizen Engagement

• Do citizens understand the EU?
• Do citizens believe their political participation is effective?
• How do citizens evaluate the EU?
  • Cognitive: Do citizens have knowledge of the system?
  • Effective: Do citizens feel part of the political culture (e.g., do they feel Spanish?)
  • Evaluative: How do citizens evaluate the political system? (Citizens who are happy with the outcome are less likely to participate)

Typology of EU-Active Interest Groups

• The EU's transparency register reflects the following typology of active interest groups:
  • Firms
  • Business associations
  • Governmental associations
  • Citizen groups (NGOs)
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Professional associations
  • Research institutes
  • Trade unions

Social Movements at the EU Level

• Social movements can operate at both national and transnational levels
• Examples: Black Monday protests (Poland) for the right to abortion

Interest Group Activity Within the EU

• The EU's interest group system lies somewhere between corporatism (giving access to privileged interests) and pluralism (ensuring all interests can be heard)
• The EU has a pluralist system with some elements of corporatism
• Designed pluralism: EU institutions invite interest groups to give their opinions at every stage of policy drafting
  • This creates a potential bias because the commission chooses who to invite

Reasons for Targeting the EU Level

• Demand for access by interest groups:
  • Growing policy impact and political Europeanization
  • Globalization
• Demand for supply by EU institutions:
  • Need for information and expertise
  • Enhancement of influence in the policy-making process
  • Input and throughput legitimacy ("Government with the people")

Specific Targets for Interest Groups

• European Commission:
  • Agenda-setting and policy-formulation
  • Legal initiative
  • Need for expertise: creating advisory committees (favoring Euro-groups and promoting underrepresented social interests)
• Council of Ministers:
  • Not part of the EU's transparency register as meetings are held behind closed doors
  • The rotating Council presidency is a prime target
• European Parliament:
  • Becoming a more prominent lobbying target

Complexity of Interest Group Activity at the EU Level

• The EU institutional structure constantly evolves, creating numerous access points
• The EU prefers a consensus-based approach to policymaking
• Dividing lobbying efforts between subnational and supranational levels is costly (financially, time-wise, and in terms of human capital)
• Finding the right balance between inside and outside lobbying strategies is crucial

Transparency and Interest Group Activity

• European Parliament:
  • First institution to create a voluntary register and Code of Conduct for interest groups (1996)
• EU Commission:
  • 2011: Joint European Transparency Register
  • 2021: Mandatory register voted, but not yet implemented
• Challenges remain, including "revolving door" principles (movement of personnel between executive, legislative, regulatory agencies, and lobby groups)

Political Parties and Their Functions

• Functions of political parties:
  • Interest articulation
  • Interest aggregation
  • Representation
  • Mobilization
• Party Systems:
  • Outside democracy one-party system (e.g., China)
  • Dominant one-party system (e.g., South Africa with the African National Congress)
  • Two-party system (e.g., US, UK)
  • Multi-party system
• The party system is influenced by electoral systems and other factors (e.g., historical factors, cleavages, race)
• Two-party systems incentivize parties to occupy a "middle ground."

Organizing Voting

• Universal suffrage?
  • How many votes?
  • Tax suffrage and multiple votes
• Turnout: Low turnout can indicate weak legitimacy
• Banning coalitions can weaken the opposition by preventing rivals from joining forces

Plurality-Majority System

• First-past-the-post/single-member districts (e.g., UK, Canada, India):
  • One seat per constituency
  • The party with the highest vote count wins the seat (no absolute majority required)
• Problem: Disproportional representation
• Two-round systems (e.g., France):
  • Absolute majority required in the first round
  • Possible second round if no candidate gets a majority

Proportional Representation

• Party list system (open or closed)/multi-member district:
  • The percentage of votes determines the number of seats a party wins
• Problem: Potential fragmentation of the political landscape
• Single-transferable vote:
  • Candidates ranked in order of preference

The EU Democratic Deficit Discussion

• Mainstream arguments:
  • EU decisions are often made by national executives without national parliamentary scrutiny (still the case after the Lisbon Treaty)
  • The European Parliament is too weak
  • Lack of "proper" European elections
  • The EU is too distant
  • Policy drift
• Alternative views:
  • The EU democratic deficit is a consequence of nation-state failures

Politics Within EU Institutions

• European Commission:
  • Partisan politics?
    • EC composition might reflect the electoral mood (e.g., predominantly center-right or center-left)
    • Commissioners are supposed to represent EU-wide interests, but their partisan affiliations at home can influence their decisions (neutrality of the EU is debated)
• Council of Ministers:
  • Ministers bring their beliefs from their national political parties
  • Limited politics within these institutions as there is no party competition for domination

Democratic Decline

• Rejection or weak commitment to democratic rules of the game
• Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents
• Toleration or encouragement of violence
• Willingness to curtail opponents' civil liberties, including media freedom

Populism

• Populism is a thin ideology combining two ideas:
  • Society is divided into two groups: the "pure people" and the "corrupt elite"
  • Politics should be an expression of the "volonté générale" (general will of the people)
  • Populism is an add-on that requires a host ideology
• Populism is a conception of democracy that contrasts with deliberative representative democracy:
  • Anti-pluralism
  • Majoritarianism
  • Demand for direct responsiveness and unmediated politics (without checks and balances)
  • Populism emphasizes direct representation between the people and the leader, rejecting the procedures of representative democracy
• Populism and Illiberalism:
  • Rejection of the "liberal" aspect of liberal democracy, which values rights and freedoms, rule of law, and separation of powers
  • Rejection of liberalism as an ideology, promoting group or national identity instead of individual rights and universalism
  • Questioning the "rights of others" (minorities), seen as limiting the "rights of the majority"
• Populism and Authoritarianism:
  • Authoritarian Populism:Delegating power to a populist leader who embodies the will of the majority

Explanations for the Rise of Populism

• Economic factors:
  • Result of new cleavages caused by globalization
  • Research findings?