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).

The Rise Of The Virtual State Wealth And Power In The Coming Century

Abstract: * Preface Part One: The Theory * 1. A New Kind of Nation * 2. The Shift from Stocks to Flows * 3. How States Become Virtual * 4. The Conflict-As-Usual Thesis Part Two: Political and International Implications * 5. Domestic Implications: The Market and the State * 6. Governance and the World Economy Part Three: States in the Virtual Age * 7. The Virtual States: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan * 8. Japan * 9. The United States * 10. Europe and Russia * 11. China and Emerging Nations Part Four: The New System of International Politics and Economics * 12. The Increasing Intangibility of Value in the World Economy * 13. The State and the World * Appendix * International Theory: A New Paradigm? * Notes * Index

Booty Socialism, Bureau-Preneurs, and the State in Transition: Organizational Corruption in China

Abstract: Corruption by public officials has long been regarded as a cancer of polity, demoralizing and destablizing society and politics. It occurs in almost all societies, but often for different reasons and with varying consequences. Despite the flourishing of studies in recent years, we have yet to come to grips with the complexity and pervasiveness of corruption in contemporary China. For one thing, while some old patterns of corruption persist, new patterns have emerged. In this article, I address the issues of the changing role of the state under reform and persistent bureaucratic indiscipline by focusing on one particular form of corruption, that by public agencies. For lack of a better term, I will call it organizational corruption. I believe the study of organizational corruption in China bears two sets of theoretical implications. First, it yields telling clues about the changing role of the state in a transitional regime; second, it can afford us a better understanding of the nature of corruption. Two bodies of literature provide theoretical reference points for this paper. The first concerns the state's role in promoting economic development. Studies in this genre attempt to capture the nature of the state in a reforming Communist regime. Though differing in their depictions of the state, scholars tend to base their view on the successful economic growth that China has experienced in recent years. They argue that, unlike the conventional belief held by neoclassical economists, the state can adapt itself to the newly emerging markets and can even play an active role in leading marketization. This argument is different, however, from "capitalist developmental states," where the structure of the economy and property rights is decidedly different. In what has been variously called the "socialist developmental state',"' "local state corporatism,"2 "entrepreneurial state,"3 and "state entrepreneurialism,"'4 the Chinese state is portrayed as an adaptive and positive force in guiding the transformation of the economy. These studies usually focus on the growth-promoting and market-friendly role of the state, especially that of the local government. They treat the Chinese state as distinct from both predatory states in developing countries mired in economic stagnation and developmental states in the East Asian newly industrializing economies. In China the state acts as either an independent promoter of the local economy (as in the "socialist developmental state") or a collaborator with local enterprises (as in "local state corporatism") or an entrepreneur itself directly involved in profit-making activities (as in "state entrepreneurialism").

Non-Governmental Organizations and Their Influence on International Society

Abstract: International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have proliferated in the latter half of the 20th century. Many of these transnational actors are new to world politics, a province that historically has been dominated by states. In some issue areas, NGOs have acquired significant authority in the eyes of transnational actors. A prime example is the human rights group, Amnesty International, which began in 1961 with letter-writing efforts to free individuals imprisoned for the nonviolent expression of opinion. Since then, and especially within the past two decades, Amnesty International has developed the capacity to research, report and analyze global patterns of human rights violations, empowering it to be a source of record in U.N. sessions and national halls of power. Moreover, Amnesty International is only one of a network of international and national NGOs active in human rights. Others include the International Commission of Jurists, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch, all of which attempt to influence governments by applying general human rights principles to particular situations. Similarly, a growing network of environmental NGOs works to hold governments accountable to international environmental standards. Other NGOs, such as OXFAM, establish economic development projects and administer economic and humanitarian aid with funding from the pockets of private contributors. What these NGO activities have in common is, while they often challenge governments and sometimes complement government-provided services, they nearly always act in counterpoint with governmental actors. NGO operations historically have been dependent upon interstate organizations for the provision of channels of action. However, partly due to the limitations on participation and expression inherent when international arenas are controlled fundamentally by states, these NGOs have also devised new channels of action that allow them more freedom. International NGOs not only cross formal national boundaries - they also have created a direct and independent form of non-governmental diplomacy through networks of their own.(2) The economic, informational and intellectual resources of NGOs have garnered them enough expertise and influence to assume authority in matters that, traditionally, have been solely within the purview of state administration and responsibility. Further, many NGOs claim a certain legitimacy for their causes by virtue of popular representation. Whether or not the influence and independent authority claimed by NGOs by virtue of their expertise and mandate of popular sovereignty amount to an erosion of formal state sovereignty is both a theoretical and empirical question. While I will not discuss the conceptual history of sovereignty here, for purposes of this essay it is important to recognize, as has been noted recently, that state practices only murkily reflect formal, diplomatic definitions of sovereignty, and sovereignty is often highly conditional and socially determined in practice.(3) Similarly, the relative influence of NGOs is not a static phenomenon, and their impact on state policies has changed and is changing with time. To return to human rights, NGOs have been involved at crucial junctures in strengthening the expectation that states be held accountable for human rights practices in the 20th century, as international and regional human rights norms have been elaborated in response to problematic country cases, and states have been encouraged to create new intergovernmental reporting and monitoring procedures at the formal level.(4) These changes have arisen not so much from enthusiastic state participation as from international popular and diplomatic pressure exerted on governments. Human rights NGOs, such as Amnesty International, have become skilled at mounting such pressure by feeding information into pertinent public and governmental channels for discussion, on the one hand, and distributing and promoting new human rights instruments, on the other. …

The handbook of political sociology : states, civil societies, and globalization

Abstract: This Handbook of Political Sociology provides the first complete survey of the vibrant field of political sociology. Part I explores the theories of political sociology. Part II focuses on the formation, transitions, and regime structure of the state. Part III takes up various aspects of the state that respond to pressures from civil society, including welfare, gender, and military policies. And Part IV examines globalization. The Handbook is dedicated to the memory of co-author Robert Alford.