Chapter 2

The modern state arose out of systems of feudalism and absolutism between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe, and it spread to the rest of the world via conquest and colonialism. As opposed to a country, nation or government, a state embodies an ongoing administrative apparatus that develops and administers laws and generates and implements public policies within a specific territory. By the time the last African colonies became independent in the 1960s, the modern state ideal had become universal. This ideal type comprises four defining characteristics: (1) territory, (2) sovereignty (external and internal), (3) legitimacy, and (4) bureaucracy.

A state must be composed of territory: an area with clearly defined borders. Many states have struggled to maintain control over their own territory through both internal and external threats. A state must also exhibit external sovereignty, a condition under which outside powers legally recognize the state’s existence in international law. Internal sovereignty, on the other hand, exists when the state is the sole authority in the territory capable of making and enforcing laws. Legitimacy often bolsters internal sovereignty, and may come in various forms—from traditional, to charismatic, to rational-legal, the latter of which requires a highly effective bureaucracy and some semblance of the rule of law. The bureaucracy is a set of appointed officials whose function is to implement the laws of the state, as directed by the executive.

No state enjoys complete sovereignty or a completely effective and efficient bureaucracy, but strong states are closer to this ideal than weak states, which cannot adequately provide political goods as a legal system, infrastructure or security. Once a state has becomes so weak that it loses effective sovereignty over part of its territory, it is often considered a failed state. Many weak states exhibit symptoms of the resource curse, which occurs when a state relies on a key primary resource, such as oil in Nigeria or diamonds in Liberia, for almost all of its revenue, allowing it to ignore its citizens. This chapter looks at case studies of state formation in four strong states (Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan), five moderately strong states (Brazil, Mexico, Russia, India, and China), and two weak states (Iran and Nigeria).

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand:

• How the modern state arose in different regions of the world.
   
• The common characteristics of modern states.
   
• Different ways that states achieve legitimacy.
   
• What makes some states relatively stronger than other states.