scholarly journals Religion as a Means of Maintaining Legitimacy in the Canadian State

Axis Mundi ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Pat Hart
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
The State ◽  
Stable Order ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Edward Shils ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
The Concept Of Law ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Relevant Degree

“[I]f a system of rules is to be imposed by force on any, there must be a sufficient number who accept it voluntarily. Without their voluntary co-operation, thus creating authority, the coercive power of law and government cannot be established” 1 – H.L.A. Hart “For a domination...justification of its legitimacy is much more than a matter of a theoretical or philosophical speculation; it rather constitutes the basis of very real differences in the empirical structure of domination. The reason for this fact lies in the generally observable need of any power, or even of any advantage of life, to justify itself.”2 – Max Weber I. Introduction In the above quotes, Hart and Weber both point to a requisite element that all nation states share in their quest to maintain a stable order. To appear legitimate, a state must represent itself in a way that is palatable to its citizens. Put differently, a state must convince its populace that the power it wields is rightly wielded. If the majority of its citizens do not accept the legitimacy of the state, then the very stability of the state is undermined; generally, it is only a matter of time before this state is overthrown or reconfigured in a fashion agreeable to the citizenry.3 This issue of legitimacy forms the basis of this study. With a focus on Canada, the following will consider a means by which legitimate status is presented and maintained by the state. 1 H.L.A Hart, The Concept of Law, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) at 201 [Hart]. 2 Max Weber, On Law in Economy and Society. Trans. Edward Shils (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1969) at 335 [Weber]. It is important to note that Weber devotes a significant amount of discussion to the definition of ‘domination’. Broadly speaking, Weber states, “in our terminology domination shall be identical with authoritarian power of command. To be more specific, domination will thus mean the situation in which: The manifested will (command) of the ruler or rulers is meant to influence the conduct of one or more others (the ruled) and actually does influence it in such a way that their conduct to a socially relevant degree occurs as if the ruled had made the content of the command the maxim of their conduct for its very own sake” (Weber at 328). 3 Hart, supra note 1 at 201.

Gender, Slavery, War, and Violence in and beyond the Age of Revolutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 135-157
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Colwill
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
The State ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Reproductive Labor ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Primary Form ◽  
Slave Revolts

A definition of war limited to fields of battle orchestrated by monarchs or nation-states elides a primary form of state-sponsored violence at the heart of European wars of empire—slavery. It involved the forcible conversion of persons to chattel through the legal and military arms of the state—a conversion secured through the subjection of sexual, productive, and reproductive labor and the erasure of genealogies and family ties. In this sense, slavery could be seen as a protracted state of war. Armed conflict fueled the slave trade, slave revolts blended into “official” wars, and enslaved people sometimes spoke of slavery as a state of war. Soldiers and the state march front and center in the archives, their presence camouflaging the gendered implications of warfare for women, families, and statecraft. Yet armed conflict in the Age of Revolutions spilled beyond the battlefield, constructed distinct pathways to emancipation for men and women, and enshrined new, gendered forms of citizenship. These interrelated themes are the focus of this chapter.

1 Reconfiguring the national constellation

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL ZÜRN ◽  
STEPHAN LEIBFRIED
Keyword(s):  
Golden Age ◽  
The State ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The 19Th Century

The influence of the state on the trajectory of human lives is more comprehensive and sustained than that of any other organizational construct. We provide a definition of the modern nation-state in four intersecting dimensions – resources, law, legitimacy, and welfare – and review the history and status of each dimension, focusing on the fusion of nation and state in the 19th century, and the development of the ‘national constellation’ of institutions in the 20th. We then assess the fate of the nation-state after the Second World War and, with western OECD countries as our sample, track the rise and decline of its Golden Age through its prime in the 1960s and early 1970s. Finally, we identify the challenges confronting the nation-state of the 21st century, and use the analyses in the following eight essays to produce some working hypotheses about its current and future trajectory – namely, that the changes over the past 40 years are not merely creases in the fabric of the nation-state, but rather an unravelling of the finely woven national constellation of its Golden Age. Nor does there appear to be any standard, interwoven development of its four dimensions on the horizon. However, although an era of structural uncertainty awaits us, it is not uniformly chaotic. Rather, we see structured, but asymmetric change in the make-up of the state, with divergent transformations in each of its four dimensions. In general, nation-states are clinging to tax revenues and monopolies on the use of force, such that the resource dimension may change slowly if at all; the rule of law appears to be moving consistently into the international arena; the welfare dimension is headed in every direction, with privatization, internationalization, supra-nationalization, and defence of the national status quo, occurring at various rates for healthcare, pensions, public utilities, consumer protection, etc. in different countries. How, and whether, the democratic legitimacy of political processes will be ensured in such an incongruent, if not incoherent and paradoxical state is still unclear.

scholarly journals The Place of Max Weber in Ricœur’s Philosophy: Power, Ideology, Explanation

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst Wolff
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of

This article offers an encompassing interpretation of Paul Ricœur’s reception of Max Weber’s sociology. Three main domains in which Ricœur redeployed and revised insights from Weber are examined: (1) political responsibility and the definition of the state, (2) significant categories for understanding social interaction (notably ideology and authority) and the social ontology implied by this view on action and, finally, (3) the role of explanation in the interpretive social sciences. As a whole, this article argues that Weber was a significant interlocutor of Ricœur on a number of significant themes in the philosopher’s work. In particular, the article profiles the Weberian aspect of Ricœur’s social and political philosophy.

Acknowledging the State

2020 ◽  
pp. 26-30
Author(s):  
Alasdair Roberts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Unit ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter discusses the first step in the macro-level approach to public administration, which is to acknowledge the fundamental unit of political organization in the modern world: the state. Up until the early 1950s, scholars in public administration routinely talked about the state. However, this way of thinking fell out of fashion decades ago. Today, entire textbooks in public administration are produced without reference to the concept of the state. The field operates without acknowledging that the United States is a state that is also part of a community of states or that a main concern of American policymakers is executing tasks essential to state survival. The state has another critical aspect: it possesses a status or standing referred to as statehood. The chapter then identifies the definition of a state. It is helpful to distinguish the concept of the state from three other concepts: government, nation-states, and statism.

Conflict as Business

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 152-159
Author(s):  
Steven van Klooster ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Core Concept ◽  
Physical Force ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Private Military Companies ◽  
State Monopoly ◽  
Definition Of

The state monopoly on violence is a core concept of modern public law, wherein only sovereign nation-states may lay claim to the legitimised usage of physical force. In recent years, however, this is commonly outsourced through Private Military Companies. Using Satz’s model and Weber’s definition of modern democracies, we argue that the market of Private Military Companies is a noxious one with severe ramifications in regards to democracy, freedom, and the autonomy of nation-states globally.

scholarly journals Genesis of the concept of "national security" in administrative law

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
Vitalii MAKARCHUK
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
National Security ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
Definition Of

The paper is devoted to the essence and peculiarities of the origin and development of the concept of “national security” in administrative law. The paper analyzes different opinions on the definition of “national security”, also considers the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine on the protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The legislative provision of security in Ukraine, security of the person, society and the state from external and internal threats in the state as ensuring national security is studied. The urgency of the issue outlined in the paper is due to the ongoing reform processes in the field of national security and law enforcement in Ukraine. However, national security issues are still at the center of various scientific debates. In the research and analysis of the origins and development of the concept of “national security” hermeneutic, logical, linguistic and semiotic research methods are used. It is proved that in the legislation and legal literature this term has gained wide application and recognition that meets the general requirements of legal technique: the terms must be generally accepted, have a stable character and wide application. It is noted that the term “national security” still remains relevant and controversial. Although the term “national security” was first used after World War II, certain aspects of it have been considered since the creation of nation-states in the mid-seventeenth century. This term is used in various aspects, has no unambiguous application in the legal literature, lawmaking and legal practice, so it can be interpreted in various aspects. Ukrainian scholars-administrators define the security of the country in different ways, in particular through the prism of the executive activity of the relevant law enforcement agencies that provide it.

scholarly journals Pour une sociologie des ordres juridiques

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Rocher
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Sociology Of Law ◽  
Legal Ideology ◽  
Positive Law ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
The Law ◽  
Definition Of

The object of the sociology of law has to date been defined too narrowly. Positive law as conceived by jurists, that is law related to the State in one way or another through the legislator, the courts or the law itself, has generally been recognized as the object of the sociology of law. Sociology of law has therefore remained too much within the legal ideology that dominates not only the legal profession but the overall culture of modern Western societies. It is suggested that the notion of "legal order" should furnish the appropriate object for the sociology of law, provided it is defined broadly enough to cover all the legal orders existing in a given society. This first requires a definition of law not only in terms of norms, rules and principles, but as a living institution that includes all agents and/'or organizations that contribute to produce, interpret and apply the law. And secondly, it requires considering State legal order as just one of all the legal orders that co-exist in a society. It should be sociology's task to identify the numerous non-State legal orders and to analyse the complex set of interrelationships among them and with the State legal order. This broadened pluralistic line of thought follows the leads provided long ago by Max Weber and Santi Romano, which have not to date been paid all the attention they deserve.

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