Chapter 1: Co-operation, Coercion, and Consent—Opening Ideas
Chapter Summary Self-Study Questions Something to Consider Key Terms Resources
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter is an exploration of the concepts and beliefs implicit in our understanding of politics, the state, and government, designed to illustrate that the need for a sovereign authority is embedded in our social nature. This is particularly the case once we move beyond the personal relationships in the family and with friends that permit co-operation and require trust in a world populated mostly by strangers. What makes the state and government legitimate, what justifies the use of power and yet minimizes the use of force, and what obligations such conditions place on rulers and those who are ruled are fundamental questions of the modern age. The answers provided by a liberal democratic culture have involved institutionalizing the rule of law and popular sovereignty. In turn, these public norms have created expectations that the state will be a limited state and the various means by which it may be limited. Understanding the role that a healthy civil society plays in the success of the liberal state is important for strengthening democracy, both in the regimes that consider themselves to be democratic and in those with aspirations in that direction.
SELF-STUDY QUESTIONS
Multiple Choice
(Answer key below)
1. Which of the following is most closely associated with the state?
a. Leadership
b. Authority
c. Power
d. None of the above
2. If a country’s constitution separates the state from religion, which of the following describes the constitution?
a. Secular constitution
b. Sacred constitution
c. Sexy constitution
d. None of the above
3. Which of the following administers laws?
a. Legislature
b. Executive
c. Judiciary
d. None of the above
4. Who said, “L’état c’est moi”?
a. George Washington
b. Louis XIV
c. Pierre Trudeau
d. None of the above
5. Which of the following describes that part of the state that exercises power?
a. The leaders
b. The government
c. The central authority
d. None of the above
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Short Answer
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SOMETHING TO CONSIDER
1. Throughout most of the time it took to write the fourth edition of Politics, Belgium was without a government. Strictly speaking, the government whose collapse in April 2010 had led to a June 2010 general election remained in office in a caretaker role. In other words, it had no mandate to do anything but manage the status quo until a new government formed after the election. It took 542 days after the June 13, 2010 election for the new government to be sworn in on December 6, 2011. What does this say about the role of government, the state, and civil society in Belgian life?
2. “Compassionate conservatism” is an idea behind the movement to return a greater share of the provision of social services to the charitable or not-for-profit sectors of civil society. The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, begun under George Bush and continued under Barack Obama as the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is one example. The Big Society agenda of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron is another. According to the Prime Minister’s website on May 18, 2010: “The new proposals aim to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building a big society that will take power away from politicians and give it to people.” Cameron’s government included a Minister for Civil Society(!). Are there any limits on the ability of the institutions of civil society to assess need fairly and impartially administer programs of assistance?
KEY TERMS
(Click term to reveal definition)
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RESOURCES
Chapter References
Benn, Stanley I., and Richard Stanley Peters. Social Principles and the Democratic State. London: Allen & Unwin, 1959.
Crick, Bernard. In Defence of Politics. New York: Penguin, 1964.
Laver, Michael. Invitation to Politics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983.
Lawrence, Christopher N. “Regime Stability and Presidential Government: The Legacy of Authoritarian Rule, 1951–90.” N.p. (2000). Web. October 22, 2011. Electronic Copy
Putnam, Robert. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Electronic Copy
Schell, Jonathan. “The Moral Equivalent of Empire.” Harper’s Magazine, Notebook: (February 2008): 9–13.
Weber, Max. “Politics as a Vocation.” From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Ed. H. W. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press, 1958. 77–128.
Further Readings
Blondel, Jean. “A Plea for a Genuine ‘Micro-Political’ Analysis in Political Science.” Government and Opposition. 45.4 (October 2010): 553–593. Get Abstract
Flinders, Matthew. “In Defence of Politics.” The Political Quarterly. 81.3 (July–September 2010): 309–326. Get Abstract
Kisby, Ben. “The Big Society: Power to the People?” The Political Quarterly. 81.4 (October–December 2010): 484–491. Get Abstract
Moe, Terry M. “Power and Political Institutions.” Perspectives on Politics. 3.2 (June 2005): 215–233. Electronic Copy
Öberg, PerOla, and Torsten Svensson. “Does Power Drive Out Trust? Relations between Labour Market Actors in Sweden.” Political Studies. 58.1 (February 2010): 143–166. Alternatively, see PerOla Öberg, Sven Oskarsson, and Torsten Svensson, “Rethinking the Relationship Between Diversity and Trust.” Uppsala University, The Department of Government Studies in Political Economy and Welfare Working Paper Series, Number 3 (2009). Electronic Copy
Online Resources
Watch Robert Putnam on YouTube
Listen to Matthew Flinders’ “In Defence of Politics” (delivered in three lectures)
- Lecture 1: Flinders challenges fashionable cynicism and looks for the good in politics
- Lecture 2: Flinders asks if politics is unfairly treated by the media, satire, and fiction
- Lecture 3: Flinders argues against the drive to reduce the scope of politics
- Or, read a copy of a speech by Matthew Flinders, posted on Alastair Campbell’s blog
For more Jonathan Schell, see www.project-syndicate.org/contributor/23
Read The Big Society Challenge (published by Keystone Development Trust)
Watch The Big Society Challenge