Introduction to Political Theory

The link with other concepts The definition of the state that we will adopt is that of the famous German sociologist, Max Weber ...

the same rights, and therefore exercise similar power. Bill Gates, the billionaire owner of Microsoft, has rather more power tha ...

to do so. Dissenters must, in that most celebrated of phrases, be ‘forced to be free’ (1968: 64). Power and authority contradict ...

under capitalism, ‘the dull compulsion of economic relations’ subordinates the labourer to the capitalist (1970: 737). Even the ...

However we distinguish them, it is impossible to separate negative and positive power in an empirical sense. It is clear from Lu ...

thus separateness) in conjunction with others. Logically, if each person is to exercise power, then this negative power must tak ...

authority; where information is blocked, even unintentionally, there is power. The problem is still not resolved. Accounting for ...

this input that gives the relationship its (minimally) authoritative character. In this case, we would want to say that slave ow ...

Goodwin, B. (1997) Using Political Ideas4th edn, Chichester: John Wiley. Hartsock, N. (1983) Money, Sex, and Power: Toward a Fem ...

Chapter 1 The state Introduction If you asked the average person to identify the state, they may look at you in astonishment, an ...

Margaret Thatcher and the state D uring her period of office, Margaret Thatcher introduced dramatic changes to the British polit ...

How modern is the concept of the state? The question of what is the state is linked to the question of when the state emerges hi ...

Defining the state The force argument Definitions of the state vary depending upon whether the question of force or morality is ...

The state as a mixture of will and force Others argue that the state does not have a ‘basis’ or central attribute, but is a mixt ...

Saddam Hussein). Are they not states because they are corrupt and violate in all sorts of ways bureaucratic criteria for recruit ...

The argument of David Easton David Easton was a leading figure of the behavioural political scientists who examined the theoreti ...

defines as ‘the authoritative allocation of values for society as a whole’ (1971: 134). Politics, he contends, is far better def ...

of monopolisation of politics, so that political activity outside the state is downgraded. Others argue that the term is so comp ...

universities, and international institutions are not political because the state is either not involved at all or at least direc ...

real problem, and what it shows is that Easton has not done away with the ambiguities and elusiveness that characterise the stat ...