Governance: Defining National and European Governance
National: Newton and Van Deth, Ch. 1 and 2
Chapter 1: The development of the modern state
What is a state?
• The concept of state is a relatively new political invention.
o Before the 1800s other forms of political organisations were more common
e.g.: city-states, empires, tribes
• There are five difficulties in characterising states
1). States vary
2). Forms of government look like states, but are not. E.g.: EU, Vatican
3). Some states have been recognised for centuries, others are new
4). The date of the beginning of the existence of a state
5). The term “state” has many syonyms
• Aristotle describes a state as a variant of human social life (“a community”).
o It is the most important one, that includes all other communities, because it “embraces the
rest”.
o To remain the most important community, a state must be more powerful than the other
communities.
▪ Territory, people and sovereignty are important factors
Territory, people and sovereignty
• Symbols of statehood are: national anthem, flag, national currency. What makes up a state are:
1) Territory: clear defined borders
2) People: have something in common.
▪ Citizens: inhabitants with certain duties and rights
▪ Denizens: migrants, visitors, asylum seekers etc.
3) Sovereignty: holding the highest power, acting with independence
▪ Internal sovereignty: power over the people
▪ External sovereignty: recognised by other states as a state
➔ Sovereignty does not mean a state is above law
• States faces problems from the power of MNCs (multinational corporations, the IMF, Mafia-control
etc.
o To deal with these complications, the notion of states is further specified by Weber:
▪ Sovereignty means possessing the monopoly of use of force. This has legality and
legitimacy.
➔ Someone has to monopolize the use of force in a legal and legitimate way: the
government.
The rise of the modern state
• The “state” emerged in medieval Europe between 11th and 16th century.
o The state concept is connected to European history and Western political theory
o
• There is no general law that governs the (dis-appearance of states)
,• There are three general patterns for the rise of modern states:
1) Transformation
o Exisiting independent political untis transform
e.g. Britain and France
2) Unification
o Some states emerged through the unification of independent and dispersed units
e.g. Italy and Germany
3) Secession
o Some emerged from the break-up of independent political units
e.g. Ottoman Empire
• Rokkan believes the formation of modern states proceeded in phases, which are linked to cleavages
(basic societal conflicts).
1) State formation – Penetration
+ Elites unified and centralised a territory
+ To secure compliance within the territory, institutions were built to provide internal order and
external security
+Extract resources (taxes); improve communication (roads)
2) Nation building – standardisation
+ Feelings of common identity are created.
+ This process took place over many centuries
3) Mass democracies – equalisation
+ The masses conquer the right to participate in governmental decision-making
+ With this the importance of education emerges
4) Welfare states – redistribution
+ Democracies emerge that accept the responsibility for the well-being of their citizens
+They do this by redistributing resources and providing services
➔ Few states went through these phases in an ordered way. France and Britain did.
• A catalyst (not cause) of the modern state rise process is:
o War: State’s power increased, because it is the only entity that can go to war
o Capitalism: for business issues etc a legal system is needed, which is provided by the state
• Post 1945 there is a growth in states:
1) First stage
+ Decolonisation in the 1950s
2) Second stage
+ Decolonisation in the early 1960s
3) Third stage
+ Collapse of the Soviet Union
• A “failed state” is a country that has lost control of its territory and government authority, it fails to
fulfil its functions
,State theories
1. Constitutional approach
+ State is established through some agreement or social contract between citizens and ruler(s)
+ The main concern of these theories is: how legitimacy of a state is established
2. Ethical and moral approach
+ Starting point is how to organise society, so that individuals can live in harmony
3. Conflict approach
+There is a conflicting nature of interests and values within society, the state can regulate this.
e.g.: Marxism, feminism (bullshit!)
4. Pluralist approach
+ The state is the main instrument for regulating conflict and competing interests
+ The state is a referee than an instrument of oppression
5. Other theories
a. Normative vs empirical approach
b. Individualist vs collectivist approach
c. Legal vs societal approach
d. Conflict vs pluralist approach
Chapter 2: States and democracy
Why study states in a globalised world?
• Paradox: Power and importance of states declines, while the entire world is divided into states
o This is a consequence of globalisation: we note a growing interdependence of the world,
which reduces the autonomy of individual states and the importance of boundaries
o Responsible for this trend; IOs, NGOs and MNCs
• Despite declining in power, states remain the most important actor on the world stage
➔ We live in a world where states and international agencies have combined the powers to
increase their capacities
o To some extent, states lost power
o On the other side, they gained the ability to solve problems
The modern state and democracy
• Mass political involvement has transformed states into “mass democracies.
o We distinguish between democratic and non-democratic states by looking at the things
1) citizen’s rights: protection of human rights
2) elections: representative and participatory government
3) Parliamentary accountability
Measuring and comparing democracies
• There are many ways to define, measure and compare democracies in the world (see 2.2 p.45)
o The way in which this is done, has significant effect on outcomes and results.
o From all indexes three conclusions can be drawn:
1. Number of democratic states has expanded since mid-1970s
+ Democracy is seen as the best government type
, + Different measures of democracy matter, but there is a high degree of agreement
between them
+ Democratic states can be judged, categorised; however, the way this is done is
arbitrary
Redistribution and the active state
• As states move towards political freedom and democracy, they are confronted with growing citizen
demands and the need to strengthen national identity
o The role of the state expanded: also welfare duties
Theories of state and society
• The nature and functioning of the state is closely related to the society it governs:
1. State supremacy
+The state does not reflect the society, but stands above it.
+ This is referred to as “formal sovereignty”
2. State dependency:
+ State dependency on society, especially economically
+ The state is an instrument of the ruling class (Marx)
3. Interdependency:
+ Focuses on the relationship of exchange between state and society.
+ There are many social groups that are involved in the decision- and policy- making
4. Separation & autonomy:
+ The state and the society are distinct and autonomous, with own rules and developments.
+ Social groups produce interests that cannot be controlled by the state.
European: Lelieveldt and Princen, Ch. 1 and 2, Schmidt (2004)
Chapter 1: The historical development of the EU
The origins of European integration
• In the aftermath of WW2 three types of organizations emerged, with US support
1) Military nature
e.g. Western EU, NATO
2) Political nature
e.g. Council of Europe
3) Economic nature
e.g. Benelux, ECSC
• The Schuman Declaration, based on an outline of Monnet’s plan to pool the Ruhr’s natural
resources and create a common market
-> This is now considered to be the EU’s founding moment
+ was the call for a supranational body
+ introduced a limited scope: to focus on coal and steel (time was not ripe for a federal state)
+ 18 April 1950 six members signed the founding Treaty of Paris (BeNeLux, Ger, It, Fr)
National: Newton and Van Deth, Ch. 1 and 2
Chapter 1: The development of the modern state
What is a state?
• The concept of state is a relatively new political invention.
o Before the 1800s other forms of political organisations were more common
e.g.: city-states, empires, tribes
• There are five difficulties in characterising states
1). States vary
2). Forms of government look like states, but are not. E.g.: EU, Vatican
3). Some states have been recognised for centuries, others are new
4). The date of the beginning of the existence of a state
5). The term “state” has many syonyms
• Aristotle describes a state as a variant of human social life (“a community”).
o It is the most important one, that includes all other communities, because it “embraces the
rest”.
o To remain the most important community, a state must be more powerful than the other
communities.
▪ Territory, people and sovereignty are important factors
Territory, people and sovereignty
• Symbols of statehood are: national anthem, flag, national currency. What makes up a state are:
1) Territory: clear defined borders
2) People: have something in common.
▪ Citizens: inhabitants with certain duties and rights
▪ Denizens: migrants, visitors, asylum seekers etc.
3) Sovereignty: holding the highest power, acting with independence
▪ Internal sovereignty: power over the people
▪ External sovereignty: recognised by other states as a state
➔ Sovereignty does not mean a state is above law
• States faces problems from the power of MNCs (multinational corporations, the IMF, Mafia-control
etc.
o To deal with these complications, the notion of states is further specified by Weber:
▪ Sovereignty means possessing the monopoly of use of force. This has legality and
legitimacy.
➔ Someone has to monopolize the use of force in a legal and legitimate way: the
government.
The rise of the modern state
• The “state” emerged in medieval Europe between 11th and 16th century.
o The state concept is connected to European history and Western political theory
o
• There is no general law that governs the (dis-appearance of states)
,• There are three general patterns for the rise of modern states:
1) Transformation
o Exisiting independent political untis transform
e.g. Britain and France
2) Unification
o Some states emerged through the unification of independent and dispersed units
e.g. Italy and Germany
3) Secession
o Some emerged from the break-up of independent political units
e.g. Ottoman Empire
• Rokkan believes the formation of modern states proceeded in phases, which are linked to cleavages
(basic societal conflicts).
1) State formation – Penetration
+ Elites unified and centralised a territory
+ To secure compliance within the territory, institutions were built to provide internal order and
external security
+Extract resources (taxes); improve communication (roads)
2) Nation building – standardisation
+ Feelings of common identity are created.
+ This process took place over many centuries
3) Mass democracies – equalisation
+ The masses conquer the right to participate in governmental decision-making
+ With this the importance of education emerges
4) Welfare states – redistribution
+ Democracies emerge that accept the responsibility for the well-being of their citizens
+They do this by redistributing resources and providing services
➔ Few states went through these phases in an ordered way. France and Britain did.
• A catalyst (not cause) of the modern state rise process is:
o War: State’s power increased, because it is the only entity that can go to war
o Capitalism: for business issues etc a legal system is needed, which is provided by the state
• Post 1945 there is a growth in states:
1) First stage
+ Decolonisation in the 1950s
2) Second stage
+ Decolonisation in the early 1960s
3) Third stage
+ Collapse of the Soviet Union
• A “failed state” is a country that has lost control of its territory and government authority, it fails to
fulfil its functions
,State theories
1. Constitutional approach
+ State is established through some agreement or social contract between citizens and ruler(s)
+ The main concern of these theories is: how legitimacy of a state is established
2. Ethical and moral approach
+ Starting point is how to organise society, so that individuals can live in harmony
3. Conflict approach
+There is a conflicting nature of interests and values within society, the state can regulate this.
e.g.: Marxism, feminism (bullshit!)
4. Pluralist approach
+ The state is the main instrument for regulating conflict and competing interests
+ The state is a referee than an instrument of oppression
5. Other theories
a. Normative vs empirical approach
b. Individualist vs collectivist approach
c. Legal vs societal approach
d. Conflict vs pluralist approach
Chapter 2: States and democracy
Why study states in a globalised world?
• Paradox: Power and importance of states declines, while the entire world is divided into states
o This is a consequence of globalisation: we note a growing interdependence of the world,
which reduces the autonomy of individual states and the importance of boundaries
o Responsible for this trend; IOs, NGOs and MNCs
• Despite declining in power, states remain the most important actor on the world stage
➔ We live in a world where states and international agencies have combined the powers to
increase their capacities
o To some extent, states lost power
o On the other side, they gained the ability to solve problems
The modern state and democracy
• Mass political involvement has transformed states into “mass democracies.
o We distinguish between democratic and non-democratic states by looking at the things
1) citizen’s rights: protection of human rights
2) elections: representative and participatory government
3) Parliamentary accountability
Measuring and comparing democracies
• There are many ways to define, measure and compare democracies in the world (see 2.2 p.45)
o The way in which this is done, has significant effect on outcomes and results.
o From all indexes three conclusions can be drawn:
1. Number of democratic states has expanded since mid-1970s
+ Democracy is seen as the best government type
, + Different measures of democracy matter, but there is a high degree of agreement
between them
+ Democratic states can be judged, categorised; however, the way this is done is
arbitrary
Redistribution and the active state
• As states move towards political freedom and democracy, they are confronted with growing citizen
demands and the need to strengthen national identity
o The role of the state expanded: also welfare duties
Theories of state and society
• The nature and functioning of the state is closely related to the society it governs:
1. State supremacy
+The state does not reflect the society, but stands above it.
+ This is referred to as “formal sovereignty”
2. State dependency:
+ State dependency on society, especially economically
+ The state is an instrument of the ruling class (Marx)
3. Interdependency:
+ Focuses on the relationship of exchange between state and society.
+ There are many social groups that are involved in the decision- and policy- making
4. Separation & autonomy:
+ The state and the society are distinct and autonomous, with own rules and developments.
+ Social groups produce interests that cannot be controlled by the state.
European: Lelieveldt and Princen, Ch. 1 and 2, Schmidt (2004)
Chapter 1: The historical development of the EU
The origins of European integration
• In the aftermath of WW2 three types of organizations emerged, with US support
1) Military nature
e.g. Western EU, NATO
2) Political nature
e.g. Council of Europe
3) Economic nature
e.g. Benelux, ECSC
• The Schuman Declaration, based on an outline of Monnet’s plan to pool the Ruhr’s natural
resources and create a common market
-> This is now considered to be the EU’s founding moment
+ was the call for a supranational body
+ introduced a limited scope: to focus on coal and steel (time was not ripe for a federal state)
+ 18 April 1950 six members signed the founding Treaty of Paris (BeNeLux, Ger, It, Fr)
