State

:This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. For other meanings, see state (disambiguation).

Philosophies of the state

Different political philosophies have distinct opinions concerning the state as a domestic organization monopolizing force. In the modern era, these philosophies emerged with the rise of capitalism, which coincided with the (re)emergence of the state as a separate and centralized sector of society. Philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau pondered issues concerning the ideal and actual roles of the state. Recent philosophers like John Rawls and Robert Nozick were more concerned with distributive justice and the morality of exercising political power.

Related Topics:
Capitalism - Thomas Hobbes - John Locke - Jean-Jacques Rousseau - John Rawls - Robert Nozick

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There are four theories about the origin (and indirectly the justification) of the state. They are:

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• Supernatural ("Divine Right of Kings") - E.g. Medieval European monarchies, Oriental despotisms.
• Consensual (state evolves from society) - John Locke, social contract, 'consent of the governed'
• Internal conflict (class warfare) - Marx's class conflict rooted in the relation between necessary product and surplus product mediated by a bureaucracy.
• Conquest (external conflict) - conquering race, nomads plundering farmers

The first two are based on consent, the last two on conflict. Nowadays, there are four major philosophies of the state: liberalism, conservatism, Marxism, and anarchism. Liberalism is based on the consensual theory; Marxism on the internal conflict theory; anarchism and some forms of libertarianism are based on the conquest theory.

Related Topics:
Liberalism - Conservatism - Marxism - Anarchism - Libertarianism

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In broadly-defined liberal thinking, the state should express the public interest, the interests of the whole society, and to reconcile that with those of individuals. (This job seems best performed by a democratically-controlled state, but different types of liberalism put different meanings on the word "democracy".) The state provides public goods and other kinds of collective consumption, while preventing individuals from free-riding (taking advantage of collective consumption without paying) by forcing them to pay taxes.

Related Topics:
Liberal - Public interest - Democratically-controlled - Public goods - Free-riding

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Within this school, there is a wide variety of differences of opinion, varying from free-market libertarianism to modern, New Deal, or social liberalism. The main debate along this line concerns the ideal size and role of the state. Libertarians argue for a small or "minimal" state, which simply protects property rights and enforces individual contracts. They see State redistribution of wealth as plunder on a grand scale, and note the many examples of government failure. On the other hand, the New Deal liberals (social democrats) argue that the state has a greater positive role to play, given the problems of market failure and gross inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth in a capitalist system. (See social democrats and democratic socialists.) In general, almost no liberals see the state as currently living up to the philosophical ideal, and therefore argue for change in one direction or another.

Related Topics:
Free-market libertarianism - New Deal - Libertarians - "minimal" state - Property rights - Contracts - Government failure - Social democrat - Market failure - Capitalist - Social democrats - Democratic socialists

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In the Marxist school of thought, the core role of the state in practice is to enforce the existing system of property and personal rights, class domination, and exploitation. It also mediates in all types of social conflicts, and supplies necessary social-infrastructural conditions for society as a whole. Under such systems as feudalism, the lords used their own military force to exploit their vassals. Under capitalism, Marxists say, the use of force is centralized in a specialized organization which protects the capitalists' class monopoly of ownership of the means of production, allowing the exploitation of those without such ownership. In modern Marxian theory, such class domination can coincide with other forms of domination (such as patriarchy and ethnic hierarchies).

Related Topics:
Marxist - Class - Exploitation - Means of production - Patriarchy - Ethnic

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Further, in Marxist theory, classes and other forms of exploitation should be abolished by establishing a socialist system, which initially requires a dictatorship of the proletariat. According to Marxist theory, the state ought subsequently to slowly "wither away" as the dictatorship devolves more and more power "to the people" in new systems of organisation, and complements representative democracy with direct democracy. Once the process is complete, the communist social order has been achieved and the state would no longer exists as an entity separate from the people. Thus, the ideal condition of the state in Marxist theory is the same as in anarchist theory: ideally, the state would not exist at all.

Related Topics:
Socialist - Dictatorship of the proletariat - Representative democracy - Direct democracy - Communist

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In some conservative thinking, the existing structure of traditions and hierarchies (of class, patriarchy, ethnic dominance, etc.) are seen as benefiting society overall. Thus, in a way, these conservatives accept some ideas from both the Marxist and the liberal schools of thought, but view them in a different light: the state forces people to accept class and other kinds of domination, but this is seen as being for their own good. This perspective posits that, in general, current traditions only exist because they have been demonstrably successful in the past. Further, as with the liberals, the state is seen as always existing and/or "natural". "Withering away" will never happen.

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In anarchist thinking, the state is nothing but an unnecessary and exploitative segment of society. Totally rejecting the Hobbesian notion that only a State can prevent chaos, anarchists argue that if the state and its restrictions on individual freedom were abolished, people could figure out how to work together peacefully and individual creativity would be unleashed. Contrary to the Marxist perspective, the anarchists see the State as an unnecessary evil, rather than a tool to be used in the class struggle. One of the most extreme forms of the anti-state anarchist and libertarian perspectives is anarcho-capitalism, in which individuals enter into voluntary contracts for the provision of all social services, including arbitration and police services.

Related Topics:
Anarchist - Anti-state - Anarcho-capitalism

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