Lecture 4: Nations and Nationalism

Introduction

• central unit in comparative politics

• when talking about politics, me talk about political activity within and
between states
• before the natio-state, government was divided into other forms – empires,
kingdoms etc
• nation-state is a unique political form

History of the nation state

• governance in the middle ages underpinned by the Roman Catholic Church

and feudalism
• monarchs constrained by church, a powerful transnational authority and by
the feudal system – nobility who had a huge amount of resources and
commanded a subservience of ordinary peasants
• two factors undermined feudalism
◦ technology – advances in gunpowder weapons created an arms race
◦ war necessitated large standing armies and large bureaucracies that
recruited, equipped and payed the armies
◦ large armies and bureaucracies led to the expansion of territorial units of
political rule – polticial units decreased from 500 to 25
◦ required standardisation of laws and administration leading to the
development of commerce
◦ development of centralised monarchies in Enlgand, France and Spain
• church undermined by the reformation – reformation
◦ culminated in the 30 years and 80 years war
◦ resulted in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 – birth of the modern nation-
state
◦ divided the Holy Roman Empire and enshrined the principle of
sovereignty over a defined territory and subjugated religious to political
authority
Philosophical Justification of the Formation of Nation-state

• Jean Bodin – society should be ruled by a single authority whose

authority is derived from god
◦ sovereignty is more or less unrestricted
• Hobbes – claimed that without a central authority to enforce peace,
society would descend into civil war – life would be nasty brutish and
short
◦ sovereign's authority is derived from a social contract
• John Locke shaped the liberal vision of the state
◦ citizens possess natural rights to life, liberty and property which
must be protected by rulers governing through law
◦ citizens consent to obey laws in return for the rulers defending our
natural rights – if they are violated, then citizens have the right to
resist
◦ 2 interpretations
▪ American Revolution – weak system of government with many
checks and balances to avoid the concentration of power
(distrust of government)
▪ French Revolution – highly centralised state in which the state is
the embodiment of the nation (faith in government)

Modern Nation States

• defining characteristics of the nation-state are, to some extent, the result of

total wars that demand total mobilisation of society
◦ fixed territories, border controls, protectionism, provision of health and
welfare, progressive taxation
◦ continued growth of centralised bureaucracies in pursuit of economic and
social progress – if the state can efficiently manage a war, why cannot it
manage other aspects of life?
◦ 1970s onwards, “rolling back” of the state – to inefficient and costly