The state is an organized political institution the provides direction and regulation for social life.
Something very important to understand is that the State has a Monopoly on the use of coercion and force. The State is a credible threat that enforces order.
Weak State presence contributes to social outcomes like East LA, where police avoided entering certain neighborhoods for fear of being shot by gangs, or in Somalia where Pirates control large sections of the country. The absence of the state allows for the self-interest of people to overcome social order.
The State is the Leviathan, and it holds the biggest stick.
:)
I understand how weak state presence contributes to social outcomes, but can't too strong of a state contribute to social outcomes as well? An example I was thinking about was Islam and how it has strong restrictions towards women that may make them fearful of fleeing the country or their unhappy lifestyle.
ReplyDelete@Madison, I think it is incorrect to say that *all* of Islam is oppressive of woman. There are plenty of countries where Muslim women can live freely, and not all of these countries are in the Middle East (Indonesia alone has a larger Muslim population than almost all the Middle East countries). That being said, I can agree with your point about having too strong of a state. I believe that the areas where Muslim woman *are* socially oppressed is due to the leaders that head the state. These are leaders that have strong theocratic beliefs and impose that civically. However, I think it is sometimes possible that the oppression of Muslim women can be caused by too *weak* of a state. These would be areas where extreme fundamentalist groups (working outside the government) threaten people to behave a certain way as per their particular religious beliefs. And these groups can continue to oppress people when a state is too weak.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed the tragedy of the commons on Tuesday, as well as part of the theory on the state. The focus was on the abilities of the state to help regulate society and produce social order. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will be discussing issues related to controlling the state, so perhaps some of your concerns will be addressed in class. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOST MY PHONE ON JANUARY 27TH AFTER CLASS. IF ANYBODY FINDS IT COULD YOU PLEASE EMAIL ME AT ib102609@ohio.edu
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