View
219
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
1/26
Changing Notions of State
Dr. Avinash Samal
Assistant Professor
Hidayatullah National Law University
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
2/26
Different Notions of State Ethical State
Legal State
Church-State
National Sovereign State
State A man-made artificial institution State An Unnecessary Evil
State A Necessary Evil
Totalitarian State
Pluralist State
State A Class instrument Welfare State
Regulatory State
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
3/26
Ethical State Plato & Aristotle Emphasis on ethics & Philosophy State - first and foremost condition of virtuous life It is the highest form of moral order A supreme, all powerful, all comprehensive and all-
embracing institution It inculcates humanity in the being and hence
human beings existence without state is notpossible
It regards the state as an end in itself
Self-perfection and self-fulfillment can only beachieved through the state
Moral, intellectual & material development can onlybe possible through the instrumentality of state
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
4/26
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
5/26
Legal State
Roman empire emerged by merging the tiny city-states of theGreek world establishing: Unity, uniform law and order, strong administration, and a
despotic political system While absence of unity was the weakness of Greek city-states,
it was considered the strength of Roman empire Greece had developed democracy without unity, whereasRome secured unity without democracy - Gettell
Romans taught the world that a large state might be stableand successfully governed
Rome three stages of development Like Greek counterparts - city states
Republic An Empire
The first two stages were replaced by the third stage by theclose of the 1stCentury BC
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
6/26
Cont
Successful Commanders like Marius, Caesar, Augustusetc. established despotic empires with concentration ofauthority, uniformity of law, sovereign organization,limited participation of citizens in public affairs
Nursed ideals like unity, order, law, discipline, strengthetc.
Establishment of a universal code of law mostimportant contribution
Taught the world that large states are much better and
can provide stability, peace, order and good government Liberty of citizens sacrificed for the sake of stable
political system
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
7/26
Cont
This gave birth to legal notion of state State was viewed as highest law making
power
Laws had universal character Political problems of Romans wereadministrative and legal rather than ethical
Gave birth to Roman Law which is the basis ofmost of the legal systems of world even today
Philosophers like Polybius and Ciceroconcentrated on the art of governing and law-making
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
8/26
Cont
The Roman Empire lasted about 500 yearswith all its cruelty and despotism
Class structure masters and slaves
Roman empire became very weak in 4thcentury corruption of officials, dictatorialregimes of emperors, slave unrest, lack ofliberty, equality and the advent of Christianity
Emperor Constantine made a compromisewith Christianity by declaring it a statereligion leading to the establishment ofChurch-State
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
9/26
Church-State
There was mass unrest in the public against thedictatorial regimes of Roman emperors and they werefaced with unprecedented crisis from within and without
Christianity became very popular for its progressive
ideas It raised its voice against injustice and exploitation
Roman Emperors tried to crush Christianity
In the verge of decline, Roman emperors forged analliance with Christianity
Assimilated Christianity and turned this potential enemyinto an ally an act of highest statesmanship on the partof the state
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
10/26
Cont
Partnership between church and the state helped establishpeace and order in the society for sometime
Partnership between the cross and the Eagle brought gain andloss to both Lipson
After the partnership, the progressive Church became a citadel
of reaction, anti-progress and anti-people Becoming and integral part of the established order, the
church ceased to be a victim of persecution and was ablehenceforth to do persecuting.
Roman Empire could save itself from inner dangers but failedto face the external aggression
In the fifth century, Teutonic people (Barbarians) attackedRoman Empire and destroyed it by establishing smallerkingdoms
This led to the emergence of a feudal system
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
11/26
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
12/26
Church and the State
Feudalism and the Church Two important features ofthe medieval period
Christian church survived the fall of Roman Empire Religion dominated the mentality of the people in the
Middle Ages to a level unparalleled in the history ofWestern civilization
Derived its strength from the absence of stronggovernment
In the name of religion it mustered good amount ofpower, wealth and prestige
Taught that world is nothing prayer is the solution foreverything religion is the main thing Diverted the attention of the exploited class by drawing
them towards religion
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
13/26
Cont
As the Church was serving the interest of theruling classes indirectly, it became popularamong them and they adopted Christianity
Started interfering on matters such ascollection of taxes and maintenance of lawand order
Church power went on increasing and it beganto claim superiority over kings and princesand virtually became the sate
King should be under the power of the ChurchSt. Augustine
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
14/26
Cont
Entry of Church into politics and,consequently, the bitter conflictbetween the two became thefundamental political issue of the age
State was crushed between two forcesChurch and Feudalism
Masses were exploited and were inslumber hoping for salvation in the nextworld
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
15/26
Socio-Economic & PoliticalStructure
Pope
Kings
Feudal Lords Big Landlords
Masses, Serfs & small producers
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
16/26
Conflict between the Church andthe State
Churchs attempt to limit the authority of Kings and itsinterference in internal affairs
Theory of two swords Pope Glasious interpreted differently King was not directly under the God but under the Pope who
had the sole agency from God to conduct all the affairs
Pope had acquired much wealth & power and startedchallenging the Kings
Pope claimed to be the absolute master of all princes whowere bound to kiss his feet, and whom he could depose atwill
This led to the open fight between the Church (religious order)
and the King representing the secular order The kings became victorious, i.e. the Eagle swallowed theCross
This lead to the emergence of modern national sovereignstates in European world putting an end to the feudal authorityand the international order represented by the Pope
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
17/26
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
18/26
National Sovereign State
Modern national sovereign states emerged duringthe 16-17thcenturies
Political movements were directed against papacyand feudalism to support a strong monarchy
Strong Kings emerged in the European world andwere identified as sovereign and unified nationalpowers
Separation of religion from politics led toestablishment of secular state
The state and the king were identified as one -Machiavelli and Bodin
I am the state Luis XIV The state meant the power of the king and he
personified the sate
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
19/26
State An Artificial Man-madeInstitution
Before the 17thcentury, in the ancient andmedieval times, the was considered eitheras natural order (Greek Philosophers) or a
legal order (Roman Thinkers) or a divineorder (Church-Sate notion)
During the 17thCentury it was seen as aproduct of a social contract
This view regards the state as a machine an artificial man-made institution which isthe result of social contract among freeindividuals
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
20/26
State A Necessary Evil: LiberalIndividualist Notion
Individualists supporters of negativefreedom of the individual believe thestate as an evil because it limits the
freedom of the individual State is necessary as without it law and
order can not be maintained in the market
society composed of selfish and egoisticindividuals
Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer etc.
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
21/26
State An Unnecessary Evil:Anarchist Notion
Ultra individualists anarchists regard Statenot only an evil but also unnecessary
State an instrument of oppression and with the
moral development of man state will becomeredundant
A healthy society does not need an unhealthyinstitution like the state
Believes in a stateless society Aims at destroying state and placing the society
under the control of self-governing institutions
Godwin, Proudhon etc.
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
22/26
Totalitarian State
Emergence of Fascism
State must have absolute powers and theindividuals cannot be allowed any rightsagainst the state
State can do no wrong and hence it cannotbe opposed by any individual, group or
association of the society Philosophers like Hegel and dictators like
Mussolini and Hitler supported this view ofthe state
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
23/26
Pluralist State
This notion of state gained currencybecause of views of the supporters ofpluralist concept of sovereignty
Decentralization of political power andopposition to absolute sovereignty of state
State merely an association in society and
in no way superior to other associationsperforming their functions
Laski and MacIver
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
24/26
Marxist State A ClassInstrument
The basis of any society is the economicsub-structure, i.e. the mode of productionwhich determines classes in society
Cultural, moral and political super-structure of the society is based oneconomic sub-structure
State is an coercive instrument belonging
to the capitalist class It uses it to oppress the other classes
An instrument of political power of theeconomically dominating classes
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
25/26
Welfare State ContemporaryLiberal State
Liberalism considers the state as anwelfare or social service agency
State is not merely a legal institution
having law-making power and coercivepower to make laws
It must serve the society and satisfy themaximum demands pf the maximum
number of people Not only law and order but also promote
social welfare and serve common interest
Green, Laski acIver
8/13/2019 5. Changing Notions of State
26/26
Regulatory State
Crisis in welfare state
Failure of state to manage everything
Withdrawal of state from many sector
Outsourcing and contracting out ofservices earlier performed by the state
Entry of private players and State
competing with them as one of the players Need for independent and impartial
regulation
Recommended