Chapter 6

Power and the National State:The Traditional Structure

State

• Units of government that exercise legal authority over a specific territory and the people in it and that recognize no legitimate higher authority.

State

• States share all or most of the following 6 characteristics:

1.Sovereignty2.Territory3.Population4.Diplomatic recognition5.Internal Organization6.Domestic support

Sovereignty

• Most important characteristic of state• Means states have supreme legal

authority• Sovereignty different from independence

Territory

• Physical boundaries• Disputes over borders can and do exist

(example: Israel)

Population

• People• Range from 921 inhabitants (Vatican

City) to 1.3 billion (China)• With growth of NGOs and IGOs, issue of

who to count in populations

Diplomatic Recognition

• Recognition of state by existing states • A lack of recognition even by a majority

does not mean state is not a state• Only states can fully participate in the

international system• Economic issues

Internal Organization

• States must have some level of political and economic structure.

• Failed states and conflict may not end state status (examples: Sierra Leone, Afghanistan)

• Transitional governments

Domestic Support

• Social Contract• People give legitimacy

Purposes of the State

1. Individual Betterment2. Security3. Basic Rights (see John Locke and Thomas

Hobbes)4. Domestic Tranquility

National Power

• Power is hard to define• Power is key determinant in

international system Power is goal

• Balance of Power=current distribution of power

Power

• Asset as well as goal• Types of Power1.Hard Power: rests on negative incentives

(threats) and on positive incentives (inducements)

2.Soft Power: ability to persuade others to follow by leading a good example

Measuring Power

• Difficult b/c of intangibles• Size issue• Attempts to measure continue

Characteristics of Power

1. Dynamics—power in flux, cycles, balance of power, internal conditions

2. Absolute vs. Relative power3. Power as Capacity and Will4. Objective and Subjective5. Situational

Political Organizations:Theories of Governance

Authoritarian: A type of restrictive government where people are under the rule of an individual, such as a dictator or king, or a group, such as a party or military junta

Theocracy: Rules by spiritual leaders (authoritarian)

Theories of Governance

• Monarchism: One form of secular authoritarianism, although the theory that God has granted kings divine to govern touches upon idea of theocracy

Theories of Governance

Theories of Governance

• Fascism: Ideology that advocates extreme nationalism, with a heightened sense of national belonging or ethnic identity (authoritarian)

Theories of Governance

• Democracy: concept of modern liberalism—basic concept describes the ideology of a body governed by and for the people

• Democratic Peace Theory: Spread of Democracy = peace

National Diplomacy• Direct Diplomatic Application of Power:

includes the use of economic sanction or inducements as well as threatening/offering them.

• Indirect Diplomatic Application of Power: more subtle; involves a communications process of a state skillfully advancing its policy preferences, arguing the merits of its position.

National Diplomacy

• Examples:1.US-North Korea Confrontation over nuclear

weapons program2.China-Taiwan tensions3.Afghanistan and the United States4.US and Iraq

Diplomacy

• Ever-evolving process• Expansion of geographic scope• Bilateral and multilateral diplomacy (number

of countries involved)• Leader-to-Leader diplomacy (example:

summits)• Democratized diplomacy (legislatures, interest

groups, public opinion involved)

Newer Types of Diplomacy

• Parliamentary Diplomacy: includes debate and voting in IGOs as a supplement to negotiation and compromise.

• Open diplomacy: process widely reported and contents of international agreements widely documented.

Diplomacy

• Public Diplomacy: process of creating an image that enhances a country’s ability to achieve diplomatic success by increasing its soft power. (get support of the people if not the govt)

Conduct of DiplomacyTypes of Diplomacy

• Communications process

• Direct Negotiations• Indirect Negotiations• High – Level• Low – Level• By Word• By Deed

• Coercion • Rewards• Precise• Vague• Linking Issues or not• Maximizing or

minimizing issues at hand

Role of States

• Examine trends in IGOs and NGOs• How will world look in 100 years? 50?

25? • National interests