Party-Driven State Formation in Comparative Perspective:

This essay examines the revolutionary path of modern state formation in Vietnam under the Vietnamese Communist Party. I argue that the party’s radical ideology and practices shaped the path of state formation by creating particular opportunities and conundrums in five key aspects of state formation: legitimization, establishing sovereignty, territorialization, creating a centralized bureaucracy, and monopolizing violence. The revolutionary state left behind significant and adverse legacies that today’s Vietnam is still grappling with. In comparative perspective, the Vietnamese experience contributes to scholarship on revolutions, revolutionary state-building, and the role of revolutions in world politics.

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The Sword of Justice: War and State Formation in Comparative Perspective

Journal of Medieval Military History ◽

10.1017/upo9781846154812.001 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Stephen Morillo

Keyword(s):

State Formation ◽

Comparative Perspective

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Introduction

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199566020.003.0001 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Carles Boix ◽

Susan C. Stokes

Keyword(s):

State Formation ◽

Political Instability ◽

Political Mobilization ◽

Political Conflict ◽

Comparative Perspective ◽

Political Regimes ◽

Current Volume ◽

Form Part ◽

Gathering Data

This article discusses several crucial questions that comparative political scientists address. These questions also form part of the basis of the current volume. The article first studies the theory and methods used in gathering data and evidence, and then focuses on the concepts of states, state formation, and political consent. Political regimes, political conflict, mass political mobilization, and political instability are other topics examined in this article. The latter portion of the article is devoted to determining how political demands are processed and viewing governance using a comparative perspective.

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