What is a strong state in history?
score:4
Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order examines that question in depth. I don't have a copy handy, but from memory, a strong state is one that can carry out a policy effectively. There are many examples in history of weak states that cannot implement policies due to the interference of domestic or external stakeholders. (also I'm not sure that there is a difference between "a strong state" and "a strong state in history".)
At the bottom end are what we now call "failed states" - states that are unable to carry out basic state functions. At the top end of the spectrum, strong states, are able to implement difficult policies without consideration for opposing stakeholders.
For example:
Pre-revolutionary France; everyone knew the tax structure was broken, but nobody had the power to fix it. France had been a failed state for some time held together by the cunning and the charisma of Louis XIV; Louis XV and XVI lacked either the cunning or the charisma and the failure was revealed.
client states that must consult another state before considering new policies.
The Articles of Confederation resulted in a weak state; the US Constitution resulted in a stronger state.
Greece which was painfully aware that the economy is broken, but found it literally impossible even to meet with the bankers. (the international loan officer offended a greek labor union, so he sat in the official office at the top of the building and was ignored, while the labor union met in the cafeteria on the first floor and continued to run the country into bankruptcy).
This month's History Extra (sorry paywall, although there is a free podcast). Contains a very interesting story about Asian participation in WWII. All of Asia knew that they needed to participate in the victory to be a party to the peace. China was too weak a state to negotiate meaningful participation; Siam (Thailand) was a stronger, more effective partner.
At the other end, consider German economic reforms in the past century; they implemented changes that were unthinkable for any other nation in Europe.
Upvote:2
"The State" is a theoretical concept in social science. It has two common definitions, "a body of armed men," and "the method of one class's political repression of all other classes." The definition being used in your world history text is the first definition.
A strong state is one which then fulfills the core requirements of maintaining a body of armed men in its circumstances. Stronger states will maintain a body of armed men in a way which makes the dissolution of that capacity less likely. This isn't just numbers or quality, but also the soft power that results in population growth, legitimacy and capacity to mobilise, the ability to bind outlying semi-governed polities beneath a central or networked will. Less strong states will be susceptible to invasion, successful or unsuccessful revolution or revolt, mass resistance to basic policies (tax, land, family structure) or esoteric policies (customing of luxury goods, public nuisance, courtesy within a single class).
Strong states possess the possibility to impose their will internally and externally, in the final instance by force. Weak states lack this capacity.
Not all "weak states" are necessarily weak countries or nations. A state is not a country, nor a nation, nor a revolutionary class. French states during the great revolution were weak until Napoleon, with rapidly changing policy aims, and a comparatively disorganised military. New innovations in nationalism and non-state networks of power allowed the communities and community of France to enact decisions, despite the weak state. Similarly with these early United States.
Using the second definition, not present in your textbook, a strong state is one that would ensure continued class rule by the socially dominant class. While this obviously has elements of defence of the state against external threats, states are quite willing to fold as long as the system of class rule is maintained (Franco-Prussian War, the English crown's possessions in France). Correspondingly, this second definition of a "strong state" places more emphasis on capacity for internal class repression, or repressive desublimation. This can mean cross-class alliances. A classic example would be the post-war welfare state / full-employment / low inflation nexus in capitalism. This reduced profit and increased the social strength of the working class, but also reduced working class militance. This kind of state extends outside of formal government, and into hegemonic apparatus and the workplace itself.
More post
- 📝 Did any British working class men have the vote before 1918?
- 📝 Were Russians less racist than I thought?
- 📝 What is the year of Ethelred the Unready's Laws of London?
- 📝 Did any country threaten war on the US because they didn't pay their debt after the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Has any culture primarily worshipped an evil deity?
- 📝 What were the requirements in order for a man to become a burgher (or citizen) in German cities in the middle ages?
- 📝 Why were the Merovingians so reviled?
- 📝 Token status of the Mughal throne
- 📝 Was Caligula popular with the general Roman population?
- 📝 Did families heading west ever settle along the Oregon Trail (instead of at the final destination)?
- 📝 Did the historic events behind the film The Big Short happen under Glass Steagall?
- 📝 What were the reasons for the Federal Art Project?
- 📝 When was Susa first mentioned in written documents?
- 📝 What is the historical significance of pottery?
- 📝 Can someone give me an example of stimulus diffusion from history?
- 📝 Why did so many places only had writing after being conquered by a major empire?
- 📝 What is the history of the Roman ogee shape?
- 📝 ut and et in the third Dicta Patricii of the Book of Armagh
- 📝 Why were the Franks so successful in projecting power?
- 📝 What is the original German version of Bismarck's phrase about intentions and capabilities?
- 📝 Eohric of East Anglia and the usage of lion heads on banners
- 📝 Did syphilis, polio, hepatitis, and encephalitis come to general world from the Americas?
- 📝 What did the Scott expedition feed their ponies?
- 📝 Why did Latin disappear so completely in Britain after the Romans left?
- 📝 To what extent did Native American cultures develop metalworking for tools and weapons?
- 📝 Use separation papers to identify a US soldier's WWII service in Northern France GO 46 WD 45
- 📝 What was the point of horse armour?
- 📝 Where and how were the catapults/trebuchets operators trained?
- 📝 What percentage of the population were serfs by region/year?
- 📝 Is there a ig-Nobel prize dinner?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is a strong state in history?
- 📝 What was the first battle in history fought by vast-majority-% "distance-shooting" non-mechanized force?
- 📝 Japan is known for being isolationist, so what cultivated its history of interventionism in the 20th century?
- 📝 What was the state of the German rail system in 1944?
- 📝 What is the history of the popped collar?
- 📝 What is the state of the art historical analysis of claims that Carthaginians discovered America?
- 📝 What is the history of the university asylum law?
- 📝 What was this small state in the south of France in 1789?
- 📝 What is the history of the check mark / tick mark?
- 📝 What is the current state of historical thought on the Aryan invasion/migration theory?
- 📝 What do I need to know about Syria's history to understand the 2011-2012 uprising?
- 📝 What Was the State of German Tank Design In Between the World Wars?
- 📝 What proportion of the population of Soviet Union were taken into custody by the state during Stalin's time?
- 📝 What is a good, authoritative source on the history of Tibet?
- 📝 What do "roses" represent in the history of Protestant vs Catholic conflict?
- 📝 What is the history of bauxite mining in South America?
- 📝 At the start of Barbarossa, what was the state of Germany's oil supply?
- 📝 What are other obvious samples in history where political/religious leaders try to shape religion to their need
- 📝 What is the history of the legality of polygamy in Arab states?
- 📝 Was there a state in history where influence of sport fans on politics was greater than in medieval Byzantine Empire?
- 📝 What are the earliest examples in history where one state/people stepped in to rescue another?
- 📝 What is the history of the use of word dividers in Greek?
- 📝 What is the history of standing armies in India?
- 📝 What is the source and history of "green on blue attack" expression?
- 📝 What is the history behind the stripes on the East India Company's flag?
- 📝 What is known about early history of Judaism?
- 📝 What were the factors behind the lowest AAA corporate interest rate in U.S bond history during 1946?
- 📝 What is the history of stay at home moms?
- 📝 What is the history of the Roman ogee shape?
- 📝 What is the earliest history of Middle Eastern women wearing veils for modesty while in public?