Is the Age of Sovereignty Over
In order to fully examine the extent of any demise in state sovereignty, we need first to set definitions of key terms. Andrew Heywood, in his book "Key Concepts in Politics" offers the following as an outline of sovereignty: "The principle of absolute and unlimited power" (Heywood: 37). The context of this remark is that the state and its institutions hold legitimate authority over all organisations and individuals within the state territory. A core implication is that no man is above the law. The state, then, can be considered the sole purveyor of justice, and the only body with licence to employ force as means to achieve goals. This brings us to the distinction between legal and political sovereignty. Whilst the legal element relates to the situations described above, where the state uses law and legislation to control subjects, political sovereignty refers to the state as an agent that uses it's monopoly on force and coercion to gain obedience. An example could be the Chilean regime of the 1970's under General Pinochet, where "Legitimate violence" (Weber) was a tool frequently wielded. Both these are cases of internal sovereignty, involving the state's ability to control its own nationals. External sovereignty, however, look
This was one of the most ambitious plans to incorporate individual economies the world had ever seen. These "particular social manners of a demographic group" (Dictionary) may include tastes towards the arts, views on family structure, religious inclinations, or other traditional behaviour. The "pervasion of capitalism" (Wang), along with the expansion of free markets, multi national companies and new a new global communication culture mean state borders have lost significance. These shifts in social behaviour, most prevalent in the young, serve only to weaken national identity and, indirectly, loyalty. The The International Monetary Fund was set up in 1946 to help rebuild the economies of Europe's war torn states. Take the USA - a country holding more influence over some states than the nation's rulers are able to wield themselves. The Romans, for instance, used sovereignty as justification for their wars of conquest, where the use of force is described as an "expression of nationalism" (Ruggie) The notion of Papal sovereignty has long been floated as an abstract form of the nation-state: the core of this idea being the Pope as leader and thus controller of all Catholics across the world. The individual's obligations to the system make the sovereignty of state so strong. The GATT accord formalized a policy of not charging tariffs on trade with members. In a world where foreign sales can account for up to 40% of GDP per annum, this is crucial for economic development. If a ruler is to provide for this he may have to sell his nation's independence. Communication equipment is now so advanced that any picture, sound or text can be instantly transmitted to the farthest corner of the globe.
Common topics in this essay:
Peace Westphalia,
Implantation American,
Monetary Fund,
Bretton Woods,
Concepts Politics,
Trade Organisation,
Mao Tse-Tung,
World Bank,
United America,
CNN BBC,
sovereign nation-state,
bretton woods system,
outside influence,
world trade,
internal diversification,
legal political,
political sovereignty,
attitudes towards,
woods system,
world trade organisation,
state's ability,
mtv generation,
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Acceptance Essays
