Chapter 2

The Origin and Essence of the State

 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• State
– is a political association with effective sovereignty
over a geographic area.

– usually includes the set of institutions.

– in sociology, (Max Weber's influential definition) it is

that organization that has a "monopoly on the
legitimate use of physical force within a given
territory," which may include the armed forces, civil
service or state bureaucracy, courts, and police.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• State
– in casual usage, the terms "country," "nation," and
"state" are often used as if they were synonymous; but
in a more strict usage they can be distinguished;
• Country denotes a geographical area.
• Nation denotes a people who are believed to or
deemed to share common customs, origins, and
history.
• State refers to the set of governing institutions that
has sovereignty over a definite territory.

– The concept of the ―state‖ can be distinguished from

two related concept:
• form of government or regime (example:
democracy or dictatorship)
• political system.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Types of State :
Monarchy
Types of State Depending on
the Head of State
Republic
Representative Democracy
Democratic State
Participatory Democracy
Absolute Monarchy
Non-Democratic State
Dictatorship
Liberal State
Types of State Depending on
the Role of State in Economy Social/Welfare State
Centralized State
Types of State Depending on
the Levels of Organization Decentralized State
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Types of State Depending on the Head of State
1. Monarchy
• is a form of government in which sovereignty is
actually or nominally embodied in a single individual
(the monarch).
• the head of State is a king or queen
• post held for life and hereditary
• in Parliamentary Monarchy, monarchs haven't got
any power. They are representative figures.
• absolute monarchy: when the monarch has no or few legal
restraints in state and political matters. (Saudi Arabia,
Brunei)
• constitutional monarchies: when monarch's discretion is
formally limited (UK).
• hereditary monarchies: when the office is passed through
inheritance within a family group (Saudi Arabia)
• elective monarchies: are selected by some system of voting.
(Malaysia, UAE)
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Types of State Depending on the Head of State
2. Republic
• is a form of government in which the country is
considered a "public matter" not the private concern
or property of the rulers, and where offices of state
are subsequently directly or indirectly elected or
appointed rather than inherited.
• Head of State chosen by the citizens periodically.
• in presidential republics, the President holds the
executive power.
• in parliamentary republics, the President is a
representative figure, most often prime minister,
exercises the most real political power.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Types of State Depending on the Head of State
2. Republic (cont’d)
• Democratic Republic
– where offices of states are subsequently, directly
or indirectly, elected or appointed rather than
inherited.
• Parliamentary Republic
– elected head of state, but where the head of state
and head of government are kept separate with
the Head of government (prime minister)
retaining most executive powers. (Example: India,
Poland)
• Federal Republic
– a federal union of states or provinces with a
republican form of government. (Examples:
Argentina, Germany, Russia)
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Types of State Depending on the Head of State
2. Republic (cont’d)
• Confederal Republic
– a union of states that usually have limited
centralized control and a republican form of
government. (Example: United States of America)
• Islamic Republic
– governed in accordance with Islamic law (Example:
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran)
• Socialist Republic
– are meant to be governed for and by the people, but
with no direct elections. (Example: China, North
Korea)
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Democratic State
– Democracy
• is a form of government in which all eligible
citizens have an equal say in the decisions that
affect their lives.
• democracy allows eligible citizens to participate
equally—either directly or through elected
representatives—in the proposal, development,
and creation of laws.
• Government of the people.
• free election by universal voting rights.
• Constitution and separation of the power of the
three organs of state (parliament, executive and
judiciary).
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Democratic State
1. Representative
• involves the election of government officials by the
people being represented.
• Parliamentary: head of state is the president and the
head of government is the prime minister who holds
all the executive power.
• Presidential: public elects the president through free
and fair elections who is both the head of state and
head of government controlling most of the
executive powers

2. Participatory
• is a political system where the citizens participate in the
decision-making personally, contrary to relying on
intermediaries or representatives.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Non-Democratic State
– is controlled by a small group of individuals who
exercise power over the state without being
constitutionally responsible to the public.
1. Absolute monarchy: is a form of government in
which the monarch exercises ultimate governing
authority as head of state and head of government;
his or her powers are not limited by a constitution or
by the law. (Example: King Abdullah Bin Abdul aziz
of Saudi Arabia)
2. Dictatorship: is an autocratic form of government in
which the government is ruled by an individual
(dictator). The dictator may also take away much of
its peoples' freedom. (Example: Adolf Hitler, Benito
Mussolini)
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Types of State Depending on the Role of State in
Economy
1. Liberal state: based on the law of supply and demand
and no intervention of the State in economic and social
relations.
2. Welfare state: the State intervenes in economy and
provides its citizens with social services to achieve more
equity (Example: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland).

• Types of State Depending on the Levels of Organization

1. Centralized state: regions don't have executive nor
legislative autonomy (Example: France)
2. Decentralized state: different states in a country have a
lot of competences. (Example: United States)
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• The Modern State
– is an organized territory with definite geographical
boundaries that are recognized by other states.
– arose between the 15th and 18th centuries in Europe,
and it spread to the rest of the world via conquest and
colonialism. By the time the last African Colonies
became independent in the 1960s, the modern state
idea had become universal.
– it has a body of law and institutions of government.
– the modern nation state is dependent on the loyalty of
citizens. The state offers protection, order, justice,
foreign trade, and facilitations of inner state trade in
exchange for this loyalty.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• The Modern State
– comprises of four defining characteristics:
1. Territory 2. Sovereignty 3. Legitimacy 4. Bureaucracy
– States use the four attributes described here to provide
their populations such goods as security, a legal system,
and infrastructure.
– Marxist scholars assert that the formation of modern states
can be explained primarily in terms of the interests and
struggles of social classes.
– For Marxist theorists, the role of modern states is
determined or related to their position in capitalist
societies.
– Many contemporary Marxists argued that;
• the state is the executive committee for managing the common
affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.
• the ruling class uses the state as its instrument to dominate
society by virtue of the interpersonal political ties between state
officials and economic elites.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• The State and International Law
– The state should possess the following qualifications:
• a permanent population (sharing a national
identity/customs)
• a defined territory (definite geographic boundaries)
• government
• capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

In the 21st Century

The globalization of
the world economy
The mobility of
people and capital
Rise of international
institutions
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• The State's (Government's) Position in The Economy
1. Open Market Economy
• the three economic questions (production,
distribution, and consumption) would be answered
by the individual buyers and sellers acting
independently in the market place.
– Private Ownership and the Freedom to Buy and
Sell
– Free Competition.
– Prices are set by the Forces of Supply and
Demand.
– Consumer Sovereignty.
– Profit Motive.
– Open market economy also characterized by
decentralized decision-making, large scale
production, existence of capitalist & labor class,
and maximization of social division of labor.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• The State's (Government's) Position in The Economy

2. Controlled Economy
• decisions regarding production, distribution, and
pricing are a matter of governmental control.
– No private ownership.
– State intervention is very high.
– State and collective ownership of means of
production.
– No personal profits.
– Non-existence of free competition.
– Government determine the wage on the basis of
nature & quality of work.
– Price of any products or services is determined by
the Government
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• The State's (Government's) Position in The Economy
3. Mixed Economy
• combines elements of capitalism and socialism, or a
mix of market economy and controlled economy
characteristics.
– Private investment, freedom to buy, sell, and profit,
combined with economic planning by the state.
– significant regulations (e.g. wage or price controls).
– taxes, tariffs, and state-directed investment.
• most commonly associated with social democratic
forms of government
– State act as a facilitator in terms of production, distribution,
exchange, & consumption.
– Price of any products or services generally
determined on the basis of competition.
– Government encourage both private & collective
ownership.
 State: Definition, Nature, Types
• Role of Government in the Political-Economic Structure
of a Country
– Defining & enforcing the property rights.
– Allocation of goods and services properly.
– Maintaining Stability in price-level and growth in
aggregate output
– Formation of discipline in social system.
– Control of production & Consumption.
– Financing and Capital investment.
– Reducing discrimination in earning.
– Control of military items.
– Create employment opportunity.
– Formation of economic infrastructure.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Social Stratification
– is a concept involving the classification of people into
groups based on shared socio-economic conditions.
– is a system for ranking individual in different level, or
strata, or prestige, or status in the society.
– a relational set of inequalities with economic, social,
political and ideological dimensions.
– when differences lead to greater status, power or
privilege for some groups over the other it is called
social stratification.

• Social Class
– refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification)
between individuals or groups in societies or cultures.
– usually individuals are grouped into classes based on
their economic positions and similar political and
economic interests within the stratification system.
 Social Stratification and Social Class

• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure

– Karl Marx stated that classes in society are defined and
structured by the relations concerning:
• work and labor
• ownership or possession of property & means of
production.
– these economic factors fully govern social relationships
in capitalism than they did in earlier societies.
– earlier societies contained various classes, which were
based on some non-economic factors like priesthood,
knights, or military elite.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure

Petty Bourgeois
Bourgeois
and Middle class

Classes in
Proletariat Lumpenproletariat
Capitalism

Peasantry and
Landlords
Farmers
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure
1. Bourgeoisie
• historically, the bourgeoisie began cities of
medieval Europe, with the development of traders,
merchants, craftsperson, industrialists,
manufacturers and others whose economic survival
and ability to increase wealth came from trade,
commerce, or industry.
• are the owners of capital
• purchase and exploit labor power
• using the surplus value from employment of this
labor power to accumulate or expand their capital.
• some bourgeoisie gain wealth by employing labor
(industrial capital), some from trade (merchant
capital), banking and finance (finance capital), or
using land in a capitalist manner (landed capital).
• industrial capitalists are the leading sector of the
bourgeoisie, whose economic activities ultimately
change society.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure
2. Proletariat
• are owners of labor power with no other resources than
the ability to work with their hands, bodies, and minds.
• exploited by the bourgeoisie, with the surplus time
(above that required for creating subsistence) worked
for creating surplus products.
3. Landlords
• Marx mentions landlords as a class in Britain.
• once powerful and dominant but having lost their
central role in production and the organization of
society.
• some of these landowners were able to transform their
wealth in land into landed capital to retain their
wealth.
• .
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure
4. Petty Bourgeoisie and Middle Class
• include small manufacturer, the shopkeeper, the
artisan.
• own some property, but not sufficient to have all
work done by employees or workers.
• members of this class must also work in order to
survive, so they have a dual existence – as (small
scale) property owners and as workers.
• Marx expected that this class would disappear as
capitalism developed, with members moving into
the bourgeoisie or into the working class,
depending on whether or not they were successful.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure
5. Lumpen proletariat

• include vagabonds, discharged soldiers, discharged

jailbirds, pickpockets, brothel keepers, beggars.
• Marx does not consider this group to be of any
importance in terms of potential for creating
socialism.
• one of the main reasons for mentioning them is to
emphasize how capitalism uses, misuses and discards
people, not treating them as humans.
• today's representative of this class of lumpen
proletariat are the homeless and the underclass.
 Social Stratification and Social Class

• Marx's Theory of Social Class and Class Structure

6. Peasantry and Farmers
• Marx considered the peasantry to be disorganized,
dispersed, and incapable of carrying out change.
• Marx also expected that this class would tend to
disappear, with most becoming displaced from the
land and joining the proletariat.
• the more successful might become landowners or
capitalist farmers.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Rural Social Stratification in Bangladesh
– the different social class exists in the rural areas are
capitalist farmers, rich peasants, middle peasants,
marginal peasants and the landless working class.
– the development of the capitalist mode of production
in rural agriculture increases the gap between the
classes as capitalist farmers can invest in large-scale
capital, use modern machinery, and employ adequate
hired laborers in agriculture.
– the wealth of capitalist farmers enables them to get
better access to existing privileges offered by the
government and other agencies.
– failing to survive in the competition, the marginal
peasants become poorer and are forced to sell their
lands and migrate to urban areas.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Urban Social Stratification in Bangladesh
– urban social structure is marked by important regional
variations. Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna cities
incorporate large industrial and commercial pursuits
along with vibrant service sectors.
– great majority of people are laborers who are engaged
in both formal and informal sectors.
– middle and high classes like corporate executives, civil
bureaucrats, professionals, intellectuals, art workers,
industrialists and businessmen emerged in the urban
areas.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Existing Class Structure in Bangladesh
• Upper-Upper class
– those with great influence, wealth and prestige. Members
of this group have tremendous influence of the nation's
institutions.
• Upper-Middle class
– consists of white collar professionals with advanced post-
secondary educational degrees and comfortable personal
incomes.
– upper middle class professionals have large amounts of
autonomy in the workplace and therefore enjoy high job
satisfaction.
– professionals such as doctors, lawyers, bank managers etc.
• Upper-Lower Class
– consists of professional with general educational degrees
and sufficient personal incomes.
– Example: Teachers, Managers, Accountants etc.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Existing Class Structure in Bangladesh (cont’d)
• Middle-Upper Class
– consists of basic graduate professions, basic office and
clerical job holders.
– a university education automatically places you in the
middle class category, regardless of your profession or
previous social standing.
• Middle-Lower Class:
– consists of people working in role such as supervisor,
foreman, steward, or working in traditional working
class professions such as skilled
industrial/construction-workers.
• Lower-Class
– working in low/minimum wage occupations, such as
cleaner, shop assistant etc.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Class Conflict/ Class Struggle

– class conflict, frequently referred to as class warfare or

class struggle, is the tension or antagonism which exists
in society due to competing socioeconomic interests and
desires between people of different classes.
– class conflict is a term long-used mostly by socialists, to
describe social conflicts between workers and capitalist.

– Class conflict can take many different forms:;

• direct violence.
• indirect violence such threat of losing a job or pulling
an important investment.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Dimensions of Class Conflict/ Class Struggle
– Economic dimension
• class conflict arises when the upper class try to
maximize profit through cost minimization
specially the cost of labor whereas the lower class
always fight for the minimum wages to survive in
the competitive society (capitalist society).
– Political dimension
• to attain or retain the power class contradiction
between upper class and lower class arises.
– Ideological dimension
• race, religion, caste etc also cause class
contradiction.
 Social Stratification and Social Class
• Class Conflict/ Class Struggle in Capitalism

Proletariats Class Bourgeoisies

(Workers) Struggle (Capitalists)

Workers attempt to resist Capitalists cut pay, increase

either individually by taking hours, speed up the pace of
it easy, chat to colleagues, work to make more profit.
calling in sick, leaving early
or collectively with strikes,
slow-downs, etc.
 Social Mobility and Social Change

• Social Mobility
– is the movement of individuals or groups in social
position.
– it may refer to classes, ethnic groups, or entire nations,
and may measure health status, literacy, or education —
but more commonly it refers to individuals or families,
and their change in income.
– the ability of individuals or groups to move within a
social hierarchy with changes in income, education,
occupation, etc.
– is a person’s or groups movement over time from one
class to another.
– social stratification is also the result of social mobility.
 Social Mobility and Social Change
• Social Mobility

Economic Capital Social Capital

(command over (support from one’s
money or assets) social network)

Social Mobility is Physical Capital

Cultural Capital
enabled to a (ownership of tools or
(higher education)
varying extent by means of production)

Human Capital Symbolic Capital

(competence in labor) (official title)
 Social Mobility and Social Change

• Types/Patterns of Social Mobility

1. Horizontal mobility
• involves moving within the same status category
– Example: middle class to middle class
» a doctor who leaves one hospital to take a
position as a doctor at another hospital.
2. Vertical mobility
• involves moving from one social level to another.
– Example: lower class to middle class.
» a promotion in rank in the Army is an example
of upward mobility, while a demotion in rank
is downward mobility.
 Social Mobility and Social Change
• Types/Patterns of Social Mobility (cont’d)
3. Intra-generational mobility
• also termed career mobility, refers to a change in an
individual's social standing, especially in the
workforce, such as occurs when an individual works
his way up the corporate ladder.
– Example: unskilled blue-color worker to
becoming a CEO of a MNC.

4. Inter-generational mobility
• refers to a change in social standing across
generations, i.e., parents’ to children generation.
– Example: a person from a lower-class family
graduates from medical school.
 Social Mobility and Social Change
• Factors influencing Social Mobility

1. Social Capital (social network, positive role-model,

peer support etc.)
2. Cultural Capital (educational opportunities)
3. Early Years Influences (quality of home
environment, caring adults in the family, family
structure, pre-school caring etc.)
4. Employment and Labor Market Experiences
5. Health and Well-being.
 Social Mobility and Social Change
• Social Change
– is the process by which alterations occurs in the
structure & the functions of social system. It is the
change in the basic structure of the society.
– it refers to:
• change in the nature, the social institutions, the
social behavior or the social relations of a society,
community of people, or other social structures.

– Karl Marx believed that social change is what was

needed for a better society, and to get social change
there must be class conflict/antagonisms.
– changes in the relations of production leads to social
change.
 Social Mobility and Social Change
• Social Change (cont’d)

Primitive Society Class-less Society

Slave-based Society Master/Slave

Feudalistic Society Landlord/Tenant

Pre-Capitalistic Society Owner/Worker

Capitalist Society Bourgeois/Proletariat

Communism Class-less Society

 Social Mobility and Social Change

• Impact of social mobility & changes on industry

– Most of the agricultural labor changed into
manufacture labor.
– Produce product for resell or marketing use.
– Develop class-based society.
– Most of the land basically controlled by the land-lord.
– Private ownership rather than state ownership.