Chapter 5
The State
The State Defined
•Has a territorial home
•A stable population
•A government to which the population has allegiance
•Is recognized diplomatically by other states
Legal Criteria Are Not Absolute
•Territory is not always well-defined
•Population changes
•People not always obedient to government
•Unclear how many other states need to grant diplomatic
recognition for a state to be considered legitimate
A Nation Defined
•Group of people who share a group of characteristics:
─ Common language, history, ethnicity, customs
Scottish
Catalan
Jewish
Palestinian
Relationship Between State and Nation
•Nation-state: Denmark, Italy
•Nations spread in several states:
•Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Iran; Somalis in Somalia, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Djibouti
•States with several nations within borders: India, Russia
•Ethnonationalists
• Federal arrangements
• Irredentism—join with fellow ethnonationalists in other
states to create new states
Realist View of the State
•The state is:
─ An autonomous, unitary actor
─ Constrained only by the anarchy of the international
system
─ Sovereign
─ Guided by a national interest that is defined in terms of
power
Liberal View of the State
•The state is:
─ A process, involving many contending interests
─ A reflection of both governmental and societal interests
─ The repository of multiple and changing national interests
─ The possessor of fungible sources of power
─ No single explicit or consistent national interest
Radical View of the State
•The state is:
─ The executing agent of the bourgeoisie
─ Influenced by pressures from the capitalist class
─ Constrained by the structure of the international capitalist
system, which drives the state to expand
Constructivist View of the State
•The state is:
─ A socially constructed entity
─ The repository of changing national interests
─ Shaped by international norms that can change
preferences
─ Influenced by changing national interests that reshape
identities
─ Socialized by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
The Nature of State Power
•What is power?
─ The ability to not only influence others but also to control
outcomes, producing results that would not have occurred
naturally
─ Multidimensional, dynamic, and situational
Power Potential Depends On:
•Natural sources of power
─ Natural resources
─ Oil
─ Mineral deposits (gold, silver, bauxite)
─ Geographic size and position
─ Proximity to sea
─ Temperate zone
─ Population
─ Size
─ Level of skills
─ Age
Tangible Sources of Power
•Industrial development
•Level of infrastructure
•Economic diversification
•Characteristics of military
Intangible Sources of Power
•National image—views of self as exceptional or weak
•Public support and cohesion—strong or weak
•Public morale—strong or disaffected
•Leadership—visionaries, pragmatic, poor, corrupt
•Quality of government—not type, but effectiveness
•Soft power—ability to attract others because of legitimacy of
state’s values or policies
The Exercise of State Power
•Power not only to be possessed but also to be utilized through:
─ Diplomacy
─ Economic statecraft
─ Force
The Art of Diplomacy
•Influencing the behavior of others by negotiating
•Taking a specific action or refraining from action
•Conducting public diplomacy using positive images
•Requires credible parties with believable statements, likely
positions, and ability to back up positions with action
•Complicated by Putnam’s two-level games and as a culturebound activity
Use of Economic Statecraft
•Positive sanctions—offers a reward for moving in desired
direction
─ Grant trading privileges—most-favored-nation (MFN)
status to China
─ Permit trading in sensitive products
Use of Economic Statecraft
•Negative sanctions—threaten or take actions that punish state
for undesirable move
─ Freeze target state’s assets—United Nations against Libya
─ Boycott goods and services—South Africa boycotted
─ Impose trade limits—Arab states and United States
Use of Force/
Threat to Use Force
•Compellence—threat or use of force to get target state to do
something or undo an act already undertaken
• ─ Example: prelude to 1991 Gulf War—try to change
Saddam’s behavior by escalating threat
•Deterrence—threatening or actually punishing a target state if
it takes an undesired action
•In both cases, intentions must be communicated; credibility is
essential
Democracy and Foreign Policy
•Kant: democracy changes international politics by eliminating
war; public restrains leaders.
•Major finding: democracies do not fight each other.
•Potentially divergent findings:
─ Democracies are not overall more pacific than
nondemocracies.
─ Autocracies are just as peaceful with each other as are
democracies.
Rational Model
Most Appropriate When:
•Crisis situation
•Short time to react
•Incomplete information about decision making in other state
•National security issues
Characteristics of Bureaucratic/
Organizational Model
•Organizations: importance of standard operating procedures
and processes within different organizations
─ Decisions depend on precedents
─ Decisions apt to be incremental
•Bureaucratic: pull and haul of different interests among
departments, groups, or individuals
•Most often in non-security issues
Bureaucratic/Organizational Outcomes
•Organizational:
─ Decisions depend heavily on precedent.
─ Major changes unlikely.
─ Conflict can occur between groups with different goals and
procedures.
Bureaucratic/Organizational Outcomes
•Bureaucratic:
─ Decisions emerge from “tug-of-war” between departments,
groups, or individuals.
─ Outcomes depend on relative strength of players.
Pluralist Model Outcomes
•Bargaining among domestic actors
─ Example: interest groups, public, mass movements,
multinational corporations (MNCs)
•Most often emerges in noncrisis, economic situations
•Time allows mobilization of media and public opinion,
lobbying, organizing transnational networks, direct contact with
government officials