Nations, States,
and Governments
Political Science
Mr. Aaron
BBS
• Nations are said to have several defining characteristics: territory,
population, independence, and government.
• Territory: Every nation occupies a specific geographical area. Who
has a right to the land?
• Population: Every nation has people within its borders. States with
populations diverse in language, culture, or identification are called
multinational states. What if a large percentage of the population
does not want to belong to the state?
• Independence: Every nation should govern itself as a sovereign
entity. Does recognition by other governments matter in world wide
politics?
• Government: Every nation should have an organization caring for its
population. Can a nation be state without a government? Without a
population? Independence?
The Elements of
Nationhood
• According to social scientists, nations must go through a five
stage nation building process.
• Identity:
• Legitimacy:
• Penetration: The nation must get the majority of the population to
obey the government’s orders or commands.
• Participation:
• Distribution: “Who gets what?” is the classic question in regards
to resources and benefits.
• In the modern era, these five stages usually occur at once when
a new nation is forming.
The Crisis of Nation
Building
• Many theorists argue that governments should provide for
the lives, stability and economic and social well-being of
citizens.
• States face two questions when thinking about supporting
and advancing the economic and social well-being of
citizens:
• How much of the economy should the state own or
supervise?
• How much of the nation’s wealth should be redistributed to
help the poorer sectors of society?
Functions of Government
• All governments today make public policy. Sometimes
though, governments create programs that favor
influential interest groups.
• Governments can create symbolic or tangible policy.
Symbolic policies are free of charge and are symbols of
good will. Tangible policies take financial support and
enforcement to make sure the policy has been followed
through.
Making Public Policy
• Nation: Population with a historic sense of self
• State: Government structures of a nation
• Regionalism: Feeling of difference sometimes found among populations of a
nation’s regions
• Nationalism: A people’s heightened sense of cultural, historical, and territorial
identity, unity, and sometimes greatness
• Diplomatic Recognition: The official announcement by one state that it is
prepared to have dealings with another state
• Weak State: One unable to govern effectively, corrupt and penetrated by crime
• Failed State: One incapable of even minimal governance, with essentially no
national government
• Laissez-Faire: French for “let it be”; economic system of minimal government
interference and supervision; capitalism
• Welfarism: Economic system of major government redistribution of income to
poorer citizens
Vocabulary
• Statism: Economic system of state ownership of major industries to enhance
power and prestige of state; a pre-capitalist system
• Socialism: Economic system of government ownership of industry, allegedly for
good of whole society; opposite of capitalism
• Civil Society: Associations bigger than family but smaller than government
• Autonomy: The state leaving associations free and unsupervised
• Unitary State: Centralization of power in a nation’s capital with little autonomy
for subdivisions
• Federalism: Balancing of power between a nation’s capital and autonomous
subdivisions, such as the US
• Strong State: Modern form of government, able to administer and tax entire
nation
• Symbolic: Acts and statements calculated to make citizens content without
costing much
• Tangible: Real benefits to complaining groups, usually dollars
Vocabulary