Distribution of power

  • open v. closed societies
  • centralized v. decentralized government
  • relevant vocabulary includes:
    • authority
    • autonomy
    • extents v. limits of power/authority
    • legitimacy
    • mandate/s
    • overlapping authorities

questions to ask about "distribution of power" > do you have to share power? / decision making/ > who do you have to please/ pay off? > who can you cut off? > how do you maintain legitimacy?

State

  • a "state" is an independent political entity
    • a nation or country that exercises its own authority and sovereignty
  • note that US (American) "states" share power with the central government
    • the U.S. Constitution combines them into a single nation through a system of shared powers

Basic forms of government

  • tribal
    • population 10-100 people
    • communal authority
  • chiefdom
    • population: 50-1,0000+
    • centralized authority
  • state
    • population: 1,000-+
    • centralized authority

adapted from Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs & Steel," p. << to do chart

Greek terms for forms of government

note the hierarchy here from elite / centralized to democratic /popular rule

  • monarchy
    • rule of one ("mono")
  • aristocracy:
    • rule of the best ("aristo")
      • is most easily understood as a social class as opposed to a form of government
      • as a form of government is a type of oligarchy
      • will rule to protect landed interests and family lineages
    • in other oligarchies, the elites will rule to protect commercial or other interests
  • oligarchy
    • rule by many ("oli")
    • rule by elites
  • oligarchy v. aristocracy
    • students can become confused by the distinction between the two
      • oli = "many" but only in the sense of more than rule by pure Aristocratic birth
      • oli refers to spread of power to non-landed, non-hereditary elites
  • tyranny
    • rule by one but not a monarch
    • power seized not inherited
  • thalassocracy
    • rule by maritime empire
    • from Greek thalla for "sea"
  • republic
    • "res publica" = for the people
    • rule by representatives selected by the people
  • democracy
    • rule by the people ("demos")
  • mobocracy or ochlocracy
    • rule by mob through intimidation
    • mobs may also be used by unscrupulous politicians

Modern variations of Greek terms

  • Kleptocracy = rule by the corrupt
    • from the Greek "kléptō" for "I steal"
    • ex. "kelptomaiac" = one who steals impulsively
  • Kakistocracy = rule by the worst
    • from the Greek "kakistos" for "the worst"

click EXPAND for 1877 use of the term:

American poet James Russell Lowell, 1877:

"What fills me with doubt and dismay is the degradation of the moral tone. Is it or is it not a result of Democracy? Is ours a 'government of the people by the people for the people,' or a Kakistocracy rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?"

from [Wikipedia]

  • Corporatocracy = rule by corporations
  • Idiocracy = rule by idiots
  • hydraulic empire = rule by controlling water supply

Modern terms for forms of government

  • authoritative
  • democracy
  • fascism
  • laissez-faire
  • mixed
  • regulatory state
  • republic
  • totalitarianism

authoritarian state

  • authority through state apparatus (elements), including
    • bureaucracy
    • judicial system controlled by central authority
    • military
    • police / secret police
    • state-owned media
  • authoritarian states frequently pretend to employ democratic structures
    • but those institutions are centrally and not popularly (the people) controlled

fascist state / fascism

  • from the Roman symbol of authority based upon a "fasces"
    • which is a bundle of sticks, i.e., they are stronger when together, break easily when separated
    • the "fasces" is a common emblem across history and types of government
      • including in the U.S. in order to symbolize strength through unity
  • fascism as a political system was created by Italy under Mussolini and Germany under Hitler in the 1920s/1930s
  • fascism uses authoritarian and totalitarian methods and structures
    • it is basically the same thing
    • however, some political scientists distinguish fascism by use of "charismatic" leadership
      • = the power is built upon leaders who make popular appeals to the people for their support
      • that is, the people support the fascist government
      • charismatic leadership is referred to in fascism as "cult of personality"

totalitarian state

  • same as "authoritarian" except the totalitarian state abolishes all pretense (pretending) of democracy
    • i.e., the people have no representative institutions
    • as opposed to authoritarian states that pretend to maintain democratic institutions

Monarchy

Absolute monarchy in Europe

  • as states were formed in Europe at the end of the feudal period (see Feudalism entry)
    • monarchs who had governed through alliances and confederations with local or lesser princes or lords
      • centralized state power around themselves
  • some monarchs were able to almost completely centralize power around themselves
    • as opposed to sharing with a legislature or a church
    • others were unable to completely take power
    • example, in the Republic of Poland, the king was elected by and subject to the local lords

Louis XIV

  • "l'etat c'est moi" = "I am the state"
  • "Versailles"
    • outside of Paris = detached from the city
      • the traditional palace of French monarchs was the "Louvre", which is inside Paris
  • "J'ai failli d'attendre" = "I almost had to wait"
    • Louis XIV was purported to have said this when he stepped out of his palace door and his carriage was only just then arriving
    • i.e., that he "almost" had to wait was an affront (insult) to him
  • see this page for more on the history of France and Louis XIV

Henry VIII England

> declared himself head of the Church of England >> transposes himself for the pope > selcting bishops > church taxes (tithes) > taking church property

other European absolute monarchs

  • Peter the Great of Russia
  • Frederick the Great of Prussia (Germany)

Monarchy problems to consider

  • why / how does an absolute monarch lose power?
  • loses legitimacy via:
    • raise taxes to pay for excesses or war
    • deliberate devaluation of currency (causing inflation)
    • don't allow dissent
    • can't force agreement
    • neglect or divert resources from public work
  • in Europe
  • the solution is parliaments >> allows dissent, allows debate... shares power w/ the king

Thalassocracy

  • also known as
    • "maritime empire
    • naval supremacy
    • "stato de mar"
  • poet Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that

The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most.

Ancient thalassocracies

  • Phoenician states, 6th-2nd century B.C.
  • Major Phoenician trade networks (c. 1200–800 BC)
    • Tyre & Sidon (in The Levant), Carthage
  • Athenian Empire, Aegean Sea, 5th to 4th centuries BC
  • Chola dynasty of Tamil (southern) India, 4th century BC

Medieval thalassocracies

  • Medieval Cholas, 9th-13th centuries AD
  • Srivijaya in Sumatra (modern Indonesia), Buddhist 7th to 12 centuries, AD
  • Majapahit, Hindu-Buddhist trade/ maritime empire , Southeast Asia, 13th to 15th centuries

Italian late middle ages thalossocracies

  • Italian maritime / merchant states:
    • Genoa
    • Venice, 13th to 15th centuries AD, maintained shipyards ("Arsenal") across trade destinations across the Mediterranean and Black seas

Age of Discovery thalassocracies

  • European trade/ maritime empires (in order of prominence)
    • Portuguese Empire
    • Spanish Empire
    • Dutch Empire

Early modern thalassocracies

    • British empire
  • Omani Empire, Muslim trade/ maritime empire of eastern Arabian peninsula and East Africa, 18th and 19th centuries AD