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Questions and Answers
What is the primary focus of the concept of power in political science?
What is the primary focus of the concept of power in political science?
What is the main difference between force and persuasion?
What is the main difference between force and persuasion?
Which of the following is NOT a type of power?
Which of the following is NOT a type of power?
From which perspective is the state seen as an instrument of coercion or oppression?
From which perspective is the state seen as an instrument of coercion or oppression?
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What is a key feature of the state according to the organisational approach?
What is a key feature of the state according to the organisational approach?
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What is a characteristic of state institutions?
What is a characteristic of state institutions?
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What is the state, according to the idealist approach?
What is the state, according to the idealist approach?
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What is a key feature of the state, according to the functionalist approach?
What is a key feature of the state, according to the functionalist approach?
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What is the primary distinction between unitary and federal states?
What is the primary distinction between unitary and federal states?
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Which of the following countries is an example of a unitary state?
Which of the following countries is an example of a unitary state?
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What is the key characteristic of the state according to the text?
What is the key characteristic of the state according to the text?
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According to Hobbes, what is the alternative to an absolute state?
According to Hobbes, what is the alternative to an absolute state?
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What is the purpose of the state according to Locke?
What is the purpose of the state according to Locke?
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What is the primary difference between the state and the government?
What is the primary difference between the state and the government?
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What is the role of citizens in a Lockean system?
What is the role of citizens in a Lockean system?
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What is the concept that dates back to 17th-century theorists such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke?
What is the concept that dates back to 17th-century theorists such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke?
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What is the underlying belief that drives the notion that inequality can be addressed through reform?
What is the underlying belief that drives the notion that inequality can be addressed through reform?
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According to radical feminists, what is the underlying structure of oppression in society?
According to radical feminists, what is the underlying structure of oppression in society?
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What do Marxists and radical feminists have in common in their critique of the state?
What do Marxists and radical feminists have in common in their critique of the state?
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How do instrumentalists view the state?
How do instrumentalists view the state?
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How do radical feminists view state welfare?
How do radical feminists view state welfare?
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What is the primary goal of a developmental state?
What is the primary goal of a developmental state?
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What is the focus of social-democratic states?
What is the focus of social-democratic states?
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In which countries has the developmental state model been practiced?
In which countries has the developmental state model been practiced?
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According to the pluralist theory, what is the role of the state in a liberal democracy?
According to the pluralist theory, what is the role of the state in a liberal democracy?
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Who argued that the modern industrialized state is more complex and less responsive to popular pressures than classical pluralism suggested?
Who argued that the modern industrialized state is more complex and less responsive to popular pressures than classical pluralism suggested?
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What is the Marxist view of the state?
What is the Marxist view of the state?
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What is the main argument of the New Rights against state intervention in economic and social spheres?
What is the main argument of the New Rights against state intervention in economic and social spheres?
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What is the main idea behind the patriarchal state?
What is the main idea behind the patriarchal state?
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What is the primary assumption of the pluralist theory?
What is the primary assumption of the pluralist theory?
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What is the main difference between Marxist and pluralist views of the state?
What is the main difference between Marxist and pluralist views of the state?
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Who argued that the domination of the ruling class is achieved through ideological manipulation rather than open coercion?
Who argued that the domination of the ruling class is achieved through ideological manipulation rather than open coercion?
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What is the primary characteristic of a collectivised state?
What is the primary characteristic of a collectivised state?
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What is the ideology that informs the concept of collectivised states?
What is the ideology that informs the concept of collectivised states?
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What is the term used to describe the view that state intervention is the most appropriate way to resolve political problems?
What is the term used to describe the view that state intervention is the most appropriate way to resolve political problems?
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What is the characteristic of totalitarian states that sets them apart from other types of states?
What is the characteristic of totalitarian states that sets them apart from other types of states?
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What is the impact of globalisation on the state, according to some scholars?
What is the impact of globalisation on the state, according to some scholars?
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What is the term used to describe the process of economic activity taking place within a borderless world?
What is the term used to describe the process of economic activity taking place within a borderless world?
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What is the impact of migration and cultural globalisation on state borders?
What is the impact of migration and cultural globalisation on state borders?
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What is the characteristic of governance in the context of globalisation?
What is the characteristic of governance in the context of globalisation?
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Study Notes
Concept of Power and the State
- Power is a defining element of political science, affecting resource distribution, international interactions, conflict resolution, and individual/group interests.
- Force is the exercise of power through physical means.
- Persuasion is a nonphysical type of power where the agent's intentions and desires are made known to the agent over whom power is exercised.
- Manipulation is the nonphysical use of power, concealing the agent's aims and intentions.
- Exchange is a type of power involving incentives, where one agent gives another agent an item in return for another item.
The State
- The state has been understood in different ways: as a collection of institutions, a territorial unit, a philosophical idea, or an instrument of coercion/oppression.
- Idealist, functionalist, and organisational approaches have been used to understand the state.
- The state is sovereign, with institutions that are recognizably public.
- The state is an exercise in legitimation and an instrument of domination.
- The state is a territorial association.
Types of States
- Unitary states concentrate power at the central, or national, level (e.g., the United Kingdom, France, China, and Japan).
- Federal states create different divisions and levels of government and divide power among those divisions and levels (e.g., the United States, Germany, India, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico).
Government and the State
- The state is more extensive than government.
- The state is a continuing, even permanent, entity.
- Government is the means through which state authority is brought to bear.
- The state exercises impersonal authority.
- The state, in theory at least, represents the permanent interest of society.
Rival Theories of the State
The Pluralist State
- Rooted in liberalism, dating back to 17th-century theorists such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
- Seeks to establish the grounds of political obligation.
- A social contract is a voluntary agreement amongst individuals through which an organised society or state is brought into existence.
- The state is a neutral umpire or referee.
- Power, in liberal democracy, is widely and evenly dispersed.
The Capitalist State
- Marxist notion: the state is not a neutral umpire, but an instrument of class oppression.
- The state is determined by an economic base, which is the real foundation of social life.
- The state can only be understood in the context of power inequality.
The Leviathan State
- The image of the state as a self-serving monster intent on expansion and aggrandizement.
- Associated with the New Right, who argue that the expansion of the state threatens individual liberty and economic security.
The Patriarchal State
- Influenced by feminist theory.
- Liberal feminists believe that sexual or gender equality can be brought about through incremental reform.
- Radical feminists argue that power reflects a deeper structure of oppression in the form of patriarchy.
- Instrumentalists argue that the state is the instrument of male domination used to maintain patriarchy.
Roles of the State
Developmental States
- Intervene in the economic sphere to promote industrial growth and economic development.
- Forge close partnerships with business, often with conservative and nationalist interests.
- Practiced in countries such as Japan, France, Austria, and Germany.
Social-Democratic States
- Intervene to bring about broader social restructuring, focusing on fairness, equality, and social justice.
- Often practiced in conjunction with the developmental model (e.g., in Sweden and Austria).
- Focus on equitable and fair distribution of wealth rather than wealth creation.
Collectivised States
- Emphasize state control of economic life through central control.
- Practiced in former USSR and eastern European countries.
- Informed by socialist preference for collective ownership.
Totalitarian States
- Have comprehensive control over all aspects of human existence.
- Examples include Hitler's Germany and Stalin's USSR.
- Characterized by surveillance, terroristic policing, and ideological manipulation and control.
The State and Globalisation
- Globalisation has weakened states, making them redundant.
- States are primary determinants of what happens within their national boundaries.
- Globalisation has brought qualitative changes to the role and significance of the state.
- Migration and cultural globalisation have made state borders permeable.
- Economic globalisation has led to the rise of supra-territoriality.
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Description
This quiz covers the basics of politics, including the concept of power and the state, and its relationship to political science. Based on Chapter 1 of Heywood's 4th edition.
