State (polity)

About: State (polity) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 36954 publications have been published within this topic receiving 719822 citations. The topic is also known as: state (polity).

Audacious Reforms: Institutional Invention and Democracy in Latin America

Abstract: Audacious Reforms examines the creation of new political institutions in three Latin American countries: direct elections for governors and mayors in Venezuela, radical municipalization in Bolivia, and direct election of the mayor of Buenos Aires in Argentina. Diverging from the usual incremental processes of political change, these cases marked a significant departure from traditional centralized governments. Such "audacious reforms," explains Merilee S. Grindle, reinvent the ways in which public problems are manifested and resolved, the ways in which political actors calculate the costs and benefits of their activities, and the ways in which social groups relate to the political process. Grindle considers three central questions: Why would rational politicians choose to give up power? What accounts for the selection of some institutions rather than others? And how does the introduction of new institutions alter the nature of political actions? The case studies of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Argentina demonstrate that institutional invention must be understood from theoretical perspectives that stretch beyond immediate concerns about electoral gains and political support building. Broader theoretical perspectives on the definition of nation and state, the nature of political contests, the legitimacy of political systems, and the role of elites all must be considered. While past conflicts are not erased by reforms, in the new order there is often greater potential for more responsible, accountable, and democratic government.

Political Theory: An Introduction

Abstract: 1. What is Political Theory? 2. Human Nature, the Individual and Society 3. Politics, Government and the State 4. Sovereignty, the Nation and Transnationalism 5. Power, Authority and Legitimacy 6. Democracy, Representation and the Public Interest 7. Law, Order and Justice 8. Rights, Obligation and Citizenship 9. Freedom, Toleration and Identity 10. Equality, Social Justice and Welfare 11. Property, the Market and Planning 12. Security, War and World Order 13. Tradition, Progress and Utopia

Migrant Membership as an Instituted Process: Transnationalization, the State and The Extra‐Territorial Conduct of Mexican Politics1

Abstract: How should we conceptualize membership, citizenship and political community in a world where migrants and their home states increasingly maintain and cultivate their formal and informal ties? This study analyzes the extra-territorial conduct of Mexican. politics and the emergence of new migrant membership practices and relations between migrants and home states. Standard globalist, transnationalist or citizenship theories cannot properly contextualize and analyze such practices. I propose that we rethink the concept of membership in a political community not only as a Marshallian status granted by states, but also as an instituted process embedded within four other institutions and processes: home state domestic politics; the home state's relationship to the world system; a semi-autonomous transnational civil society created in part by migration; and the context of reception of migrants in the United States. A main conclusion is that the state itself plays a key role in creating transnational political action by migrants and new migrant membership practices. The article draws on printed sources and interviews and ethnography done since 1990.

Custom as a Source of International Law

Abstract: The attitude of international lawyers towards customary international law is somewhat similar; they invoke rules of customary international law every day, but they have great difficulty in agreeing on a definition of customary international law. This chapter deals with the relationship between treaties and custom. In the North Sea Continental Shelf cases the International Court treated the Truman Proclamation and similar claims by other States as State practice which had given rise to a rule of customary law. Anthony D'Amato argues that claims and other statements by States are likely to conflict with one another, and that physical acts do not suffer from this defect. Assertions made in abstracto concerning the content of existing law are sometimes found in resolutions passed by the representatives of States at the meetings of international organizations. In the Nottebokm case the International Court relied partly on the fact that national laws provide for naturalization only when there is a genuine link.

Is the International Court of Justice Biased

Abstract: The International Court of Justice has jurisdiction over disputes between nations, and has decided dozens of cases since it began operations in 1946. Its defenders argue that the ICJ decides cases impartially and confers legitimacy on the international legal system. Its critics argue that the members of the ICJ vote the interests of the states that appoint them. Prior empirical scholarship is ambiguous. We test the charge of bias using statistical methods. We find strong evidence that (1) judges favor the states that appoint them, and (2) judges favor states whose wealth level is close to that of the judges' own state; and weaker evidence that (3) judges favor states whose political system is similar to that of the judges' own state, and (4) (more weakly) judges favor states whose culture (language and religion) is similar to that of the judges' own state. We find weak or no evidence that judges are influenced by regional and military alignments.