Rise of the Modern State in Europe

Comparative Politics

• Involves comparing and studying domestic politics across different countries
• Considers topics such as regimes, elections, culture, and economic systems

International Relations

• Focuses on the study of relations between countries
• Addresses topics like foreign policy, war, trade, and foreign affairs/aid

Core Comparative Concepts

Politics

• The struggle for power within a group to enable decision-making for larger groups

Power

• The ability to influence others or impose one's will

Institutions

• Self-perpetuating organizations or activities with intrinsic value
• Culture can function as one, encouraging certain behaviors

The Comparative Method

• A way for social scientists to make comparisons across different cases
• It's essentially comparison applied to politics

Evidence and Theory

Inductive Reasoning

• Involves forming general hypotheses from specific cases

Deductive Reasoning

• Involves testing a hypothesis with specific cases

Common Comparative Approaches

Qualitative Studies

• In-depth investigations of a limited number of cases are used

Quantitative Method

• Uses statistical data collected from many cases

Game Theory

• Focuses on how actors and organizations behave to influence others

Challenges for Researchers

• Difficulty in controlling variables like population or language
• Multicausality; cultures and religions affect solutions
• Endogeneity; difficulty distinguishing cause and effect
• Gathers data from 192 countries
• Area studies often overemphasizes Europe
• Results impacted by selection bias and personal beliefs

Philosophy and Politics

• Early thinkers include Aristotle and Machiavelli
• Other thinkers include Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx, and Weber

Post World War 2 Shifts

• Major causes and new approaches such as modernization and behavioralism mark a shift beyond traditional approaches

Freedom

• An individual's ability to act independently without fear of state restriction or punishment

Equality

• A standard of living shared by individuals within a community, society, or country

Comparative Politics

• The study of how politics functions differently in different countries
• It's a field with a long tradition that constantly changes due to real-world issues

Political Insight Impact

• Comparativists study the impact of political insight and how it shapes politics

The Freedom and Equality Debate

• A central debate in politics worldwide

The State

• According to Max Weber, this is an organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory

Key Elements of States

• Possessing sovereignty allows actions within a territory independent of external actors
• Institutions are perpetuated with intrinsic value

State Authority

• Composed of the government, which is the leadership that directs the state, and the regime with rules shaping politics

The State

• A territory's monopoly of force that is typically institutionalized and sovereign

Regimes

• Norms regarding individual freedom and equality that can change due to social events

The Government

• A basic level categorizes it as democratic or authoritarian
• It is weakly institutionalized, limited by the existing regime, made up of officials

Regime Change Examples

• The French Revolution in France
• The dissolvement of apartheid in South Africa
• The fall of the USSR that caused authoritarian leadership in Russia

Key Terms

• A Country is that is made up of a state, government, regime, and people
• A Nation is a group bound by shared political aspirations

Origins of Political Organizations

Consensus

• Where individuals protect themselves and create common rules democratically

Coercion

• Where a ruler imposes authority and monopolizes power authoritatively

Philosophical Debate

• Voluntary; people give authority to overcome anarchy
• Coercive; authority is forced on human interactions and social contact

The Modern State

• Emerged in response to violence and anarchy with geographic location and religious conflict

Treaty of Westphalia

• Main element was kings recognizing each other, authority bound by territory
• Some consequences are; kings collect revenue, economy regulation, major european powers consolidate

The Modern World

• A world made of up of states because they promote economic development, encourage innovation, create stability, and encourage shared identity
• States have created imperialism and have spread the states

China State Consolidation

• It was an early leader in science but the powerful bureaucracy stunted entrepreneurialism and democracy

Germany State Consolidation

• It had late formation

Power

• Rulers may punish dissent, reward support, and legitimize their right to rule

Traditional Legitimacy

• It is built by habit over time
• Cultural value evolves out of history

Charismatic Legitimacy

• It is built on the force of ideas and the presence of the leader, weakly institutionalized

Rational-Legal Legitimacy

• It is strongly institutionalized, based on rules and procedures

Power Dispersion

• Can be represented as centralization or decentralization
• Unitary states concentrate power, while federal systems distribute power

Federalism

• The system of governance with trends toward devolution

Symmetric Federalism

• All regions have the same power represented by The United States

Asymmetric Federalism

• Different regions have different power represented by Canada and Russia

State Strengths

• It matters because there is a difference between weak and strong states

Comparing State Power

Capacity

• Being able to wield power to carry out basic tasks and mobilize resources

Autonomy

• Being able to wield power independently and relates to sovereignty

High Capacity and Autonomy

• A strong state that undermines democracy

High Capacity; Low Autonomy

• State able to fulfill basic tasks, is unable to develop new policies

Low Capacity; High Autonomy

• A state is unable to fulfill basic tasks, acts with minimal public control

Low Capacity; Low Autonomy

• A weak state with decentralized power and the risk of internal failure

Ethnic Identity

• Cultural differences set groups culturally apart

National Identity

• A sense of belonging to a nation with a political destiny

Citizenship

• Can convey citizen obligations and gives rise to patriotism

Nations

• Are either divided, have multiple nations, or are lacking states

Identities

• Increase along side commerce, urbanization, social interactions, and institutions

The Nation-State

• Used by France, one dominant nation has raised questions whether the nation state is really working

Consensus

• Some countries seek to forge a consensus between different ethnic and national identities

Conflict

• Other countries face seemingly irreconcilable conflict such as Israelis and Palestinians or sometimes violence

"Liberal"

• The modern meaning of "liberal" can often depend on regional location

Attitudes

• Ideas about the scope and pace of political change

Ideologies

• Values about fundamental policy goals

Political Ideologies

• Radicals favor dramatic change
• Liberals prefer change within existing institutions
• Conservatives favor the status quo
• Reactionaries seek to restore old systems

Different Ideologies

• Liberalism focuses on individual freedom
• Communism focuses on economic equality
• Social democracy balances freedom and equality
• Fascism promotes a superior group/race
• Anarchism eliminates state power

Liberalism

• It reduces state interference and inspires liberal democracy

Communism

• Inspired the 20th-century communist states

Social Democracy

• Inspired modern European states

Empirical puzzle

• Social democracy caught on in the US due to political culture and economic explanations

Fascism

• Rejects freedom/equality and is ethnocentric

Anarchy

• Sees states as a threat to freedom

Ideologies

• Includes alternatives like religion and fundamentalism

Culture

• Institutions and norms define a society and impact political regimes
• Values can include traditions vs secularism, survival vs self-expression

Political Economy

• Interaction between states and markets, the role of private/ public goods, the impact of taxation and regulations, and the challenges of money inflation

The Power and Value of Money

• The value of money is determined by the state which impacts the flow of value and commerce in society

Political Violence

• Politically motivated violence outside of state control
• Institutional, ideational, and individual explanations

Forms of Violence

• Revolution leads to the public takeover and impacts the government
• Terrorism with the aim to cause civic violence

Revolutions

• Include public participation and aims to control the state
• Not a coup d'etat, negotiated transition or a secessionist movement

Terrorism

• Involves instilling specific ideologies for personal violence

Political Violence

• Can be cause by modern views and cause revolution or combat

Repression

• A cause violence or encourage more later

Democracy

• Rule by the people with participation, competition, and liberty

Modern Democracies

• Stemming from the history of Athenian origins of democratic society

Explanations; Democratization

• Democracy may have connections with modernization and the values of wealth

International Actors

• Can play a part in promoting democracy

Political Culture and Democracy

• Is more favorable to democracy when coupled with secularism and gender equality,

Executive Branch in Government

• Holds roles of the state, the policies implemented and the direction carried out

Explore the factors contributing to the rise of the modern state in Europe, including the Treaty of Westphalia and methods rulers use to maintain power. Understand the consequences of China's early state consolidation compared to Europe. Examine the differences between liberalism and social democracy.