scholarly journals Political Authority in International Relations: Revisiting the Medieval Debate

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Costa Lopez
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractIn international relations, accounts of medieval political authority are divided between those who see a heteronomous patchwork of overlapping authorities and those who claim that the era of the state started in the twelfth century. How can we overcome this divide? I argue that IR's current difficulties in grasping the nature of medieval political authority stem from shortcomings in how the notion of political authority itself has been conceptualized. Thus, rather than starting from a substantive definition of political authority, I focus on contestation over the categorization and authorization of rule, that is, on how authority is produced in historically specific ways as a result of contemporary contestation over what political authority is, who is authorized, and how rulers stand in relation to one another. This reorientation allows us to appreciate how medieval political authority emerged from the competition between four sets of ordering categories: iurisdictio, potestas, lord/vassal, and magistrate. Each one of these four categories understood authority, rulers, and the relation between rulers in different ways. The problem with existing accounts of medieval authority is that they attempt to find the single ordering principle of medieval international relations. In doing so, they not only fail to capture the features of the time but also reinforce a particular approach to political authority that is unhelpful for understanding medieval and modern politics alike.

The Political Theory of the Disruption

1916 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold J. Laski
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Secular Society ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Political Principles ◽  
The Church

“Of political principles,” says a distinguished authority, “whether they be those of order or of freedom, we must seek in religious and quasi-theological writings for the highest and most notable expressions.” No one, in truth, will deny the accuracy of this claim for those ages before the Reformation transferred the centre of political authority from church to state. What is too rarely realised is the modernism of those writings in all save form. Just as the medieval state had to fight hard for relief from ecclesiastical trammels, so does its modern exclusiveness throw the burden of a kindred struggle upon its erstwhile rival. The church, intelligibly enough, is compelled to seek the protection of its liberties lest it become no more than the religious department of an otherwise secular society. The main problem, in fact, for the political theorist is still that which lies at the root of medieval conflict. What is the definition of sovereignty? Shall the nature and personality of those groups of which the state is so formidably one be regarded as in its gift to define? Can the state tolerate alongside itself churches which avow themselves societates perfectae, claiming exemption from its jurisdiction even when, as often enough, they traverse the field over which it ploughs? Is the state but one of many, or are those many but parts of itself, the one?

Leviathan on a Leash

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Fleming
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
The State ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World

States are commonly blamed for wars, called on to apologize, held liable for debts and reparations, bound by treaties, and punished with sanctions. But what does it mean to hold a state responsible as opposed to a government, a nation, or an individual leader? Under what circumstances should we assign responsibility to states rather than individuals? This book demystifies the phenomenon of state responsibility and explains why it is a challenging yet indispensable part of modern politics. Taking Thomas Hobbes' theory of the state as a starting point, the book presents a theory of state responsibility that sheds new light on sovereign debt, historical reparations, treaty obligations, and economic sanctions. Along the way, it overturns longstanding interpretations of Hobbes' political thought, explores how new technologies will alter the practice of state responsibility as we know it, and develops new accounts of political authority, representation, and legitimacy. The book argues that Hobbes' idea of the state offers a far richer and more realistic conception of state responsibility than the theories prevalent today and demonstrates that Hobbes' Leviathan is much more than an anthropomorphic “artificial man.” The book is essential reading for political theorists, scholars of international relations, international lawyers, and philosophers. It recovers a forgotten understanding of state personality in Hobbes' thought and shows how to apply it to the world of imperfect states in which we live.

The Organisational View of the State

Politics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Burnham
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Concept ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Comparative Study

The state is arguably the most fundamental concept in politics and international relations. However, much confusion surrounds the employment of the term. This article emphasizes the importance of adopting an organisational definition of the state. The strength of this approach is that it draws attention to the changing nature of state forms, thereby enabling distinctions to be made between national form of the state and the nation-state, and between the state itself and government. The organisational approach opens up a rich field for the comparative study of institutional forms which politically-organised subjection has taken throughout history.

The relationship between religion and the state: the institution of ‘Commandment of the Faithful’ in Morocco†

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-81
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al Khamlichi
Keyword(s):  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Absolute Power ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

The term ‘Amir al-Mou'mineen’ (Commander of the Faithful) and ‘caliph’ were first bestowed on Omar Bin al-Khattab who became the successor of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) two-and-a-half years after he passed away. By virtue of the political and religious connotations of the term, the title conveyed overarching political authority – a kind of absolute power. The notion of Commander of the Faithful facilitated oppression of those who held different views, directly or indirectly, through employing fatawa, that is religious interpretations and edicts, in addition to mobilizing religious followers and devotees. This excess of political power is based on the definition of Imarat al-Mu'mineen (Commandment of the Faithful) or the Caliphate common in religious jurisprudence. This definition was coined by Ibn Khaldoun, and may be translated as: ‘making people abide by the view of Shar (the Law of God in Islam) regarding their temporal and afterlife interests’. Morocco has been no different from the rest of the Islamic world over the centuries, and now two distinct phenomena are apparent. First, the emergence of different groups, each with its own ideology and claims to be defending religion and pursuing its implementation. Such groups consider all other ways of thinking as apostasy that must be eliminated; while juxtaposed to them, there exist intellectual currents calling for the continued separation of religion and the state and its laws. During the past two decades this phenomenon has led to tragic situations in a considerable number of Islamic states, whose prospects now seem very gloomy. Second, a tight regulation of state institutions, together with constitutional guarantees of individual rights and freedoms, can prevent the manipulation of the state in the name of religion, and its use for tyranny and the oppression of individuals and minorities, be it in the name of Commandment of the Faithful or any other term. It seems that Morocco is aware of the power of these two phenomena, especially after it faced social unrest in 1992 and 2001, which almost destroyed its stability.

Collective Identity Formation and the International State

1994 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Wendt
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Systemic Theory ◽  
Systemic Level ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Shared Commitment

The neorealist-neoliberal debate about the possibilities for collective action in international relations has been based on a shared commitment to Mancur Olson's rationalist definition of the problem as one of getting exogenously given egoists to cooperate. Treating this assumption as a de facto hypothesis about world politics, I articulate the rival claim that interaction at the systemic level changes state identities and interests. The causes of state egoism do not justify always treating it as given. Insights from critical international relations and integration theories suggest how collective identity among states could emerge endogenously at the systemic level. Such a process would generate cooperation that neither neorealists nor neoliberals expect and help transform systemic anarchy into an “international state”—a transnational structure of political authority that might undermine territorial democracy. I show how broadening systemic theory beyond rationalist concerns can help it to explain structural change in world politics.

scholarly journals International Political Authority: On the Meaning and Scope of a Justified Hierarchy in International Relations (Voelsen & Schettler, 2019)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-99
Author(s):  
Bogdana Sybikowska
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
The State ◽  
Global Order ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
International Authority

Abstract This article is a review of a paper titled International political authority: on the meaning and scope of a justified hierarchy in international relations written by Daniel Voelsen and Leon Schettler. The growing power and authority of international organizations has been perceived by many as a sign of a new global order where the concept of sovereignty of the state is replaced with the constitutional principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Recently, a tendency has been observed to consider international organizations as autonomous, legitimate institutions possessing political authority. However, it is rather challenging to find one and the complex understanding of political authority that encompasses all components that construct it. Voelsen and Schettler offer a detailed analysis of the concepts of international authority that are present in the literature and even criticize them. In this article, the conducted research is reviewed and scrutinized in detail.

The state and the nation: changing norms and the rules of sovereignty in international relations

1994 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Samuel Barkin ◽  
Bruce Cronin
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
The State ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Legitimate Authority ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Constitutive Rule ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Definition Of

The international relations literature regularly embraces sovereignty as the primary constitutive rule of international organization. Theoretical traditions that agree on little else all seem to concur that the defining feature of the modern international system is the division of the world into sovereign states. Despite differences over the role of the state in international affairs, most scholars would accept John Ruggie's definition of sovereignty as “the institutionalization of public authority within mutually exclusive jurisdictional domains.” Regardless of the theoretical approach however, the concept tends to be viewed as a static, fixed concept: a set of ideas that underlies international relations but is not changed along with them. Moreover, the essence of sovereignty is rarely defined; while legitimate authority and territoriality are the key concepts in understanding sovereignty, international relations scholars rarely examine how definitions of populations and territories change through-out history and how this change alters the notion of legitimate authority.

PERTANGGUNGJAWABAN KERUGIAN NEGARA DALAM PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN DAERAH

EDUKASI ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendra Karianga
Keyword(s):  
Financial Management ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Regional Finance ◽  
Regional Budget ◽  
State Finance ◽  
Budget Policy ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

Sources of revenue and expenditure of APBD (regional budget) can be allocated to finance the compulsory affairs and optional affairs in the form of programs and activities related to the improvement of public services, job creation, poverty alleviation, improvement of environmental quality, and regional economic growth. The implications of these policies is the need for funds to finance the implementation of the functions, that have become regional authority, is also increasing. In practice, regional financial management still poses a complicated issue because the regional head are reluctant to release pro-people regional budget policy, even implication of regional autonomy is likely to give birth to little kings in region causing losses to state finance and most end up in legal proceedings. This paper discusses the loss of state finance and forms of liability for losses to the state finance. The result of the study can be concluded firstly,  there are still many differences in giving meaning and definition of the loss of state finace and no standard definition of state losses, can cause difficulties. The difficulty there is in an effort to determine the amount of the state finance losses. The calculation of state/regions losses that occur today is simply assessing the suitability of the size of the budget and expenditure without considering profits earned by the community and the impact of the use of budget to the community. Secondly, the liability for losses to the state finance is the fulfillment of the consequences for a person to give or to do something in the regional financial management by giving birth to three forms of liability, namely the Criminal liability, Civil liability, and Administrative liability.Keywords: state finance losses, liability, regional finance.

Implications

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Widerquist ◽  
Grant S. McCall
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Natural Property ◽  
Government Failure ◽  
State Of Nature ◽  
Best Response ◽  
Lockean Proviso ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
Disadvantaged People

Earlier chapters of this book found that the Hobbesian hypothesis is false; the Lockean proviso is unfulfilled; contemporary states and property rights systems fail to meet the standard that social contract and natural property rights theories require for their justification. This chapter assesses the implications of those findings for the two theories. Section 1 argues that, whether contractarians accept or reject these findings, they need to clarify their argument to remove equivocation. Section 2 invites efforts to refute this book’s empirical findings. Section 3 discusses a response open only to property rights theorists: concede this book’s empirical findings and blame government failure. Section 4 considers the argument that this book misidentifies the state of nature. Section 5 considers a “bracketing strategy,” which admits that observed stateless societies fit the definition of the state of nature, but argues that they are not the relevant forms of statelessness today. Section 6 discusses the implications of accepting both the truth and relevance of the book’s findings, concluding that the best response is to fulfil the Lockean proviso by taking action to improve the lives of disadvantaged people.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document