The Sociology of the StateToo often we think of the modern political state as a universal institution, the inevitable product of History rather than a specific creation of a very particular history. Bertrand Badie and Pierre Birnbaum here persuasively argue that the origin of the state is a social fact, arising out of the peculiar sociohistorical context of Western Europe. Drawing on historical materials and bringing sociological insights to bear on a field long abandoned to jurists and political scientists, the authors lay the foundations for a strikingly original theory of the birth and subsequent diffusion of the state. The book opens with a review of the principal evolutionary theories concerning the origin of the institution proposed by such thinkers as Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. Rejecting these views, the authors set forward and defend their thesis that the state was an "invention" rather than a necessary consequence of any other process. Once invented, the state was disseminated outside its Western European birthplace either through imposition or imitation. The study concludes with concrete analyses of the differences in actual state institutions in France, Prussia, Great Britain, the United States, and Switzerland. |
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absolute monarchy absolutist achieve administration analysis Ancien Régime argues aristocracy auton autonomy bourgeoisie Britain bureaucracy central government century chap civil servants civil service civil society conflict contrast countries cultural degree départements distinct division of labor domination Durkheim economic Eisenstadt elites emergence Emile Durkheim Empire England epigenesis establish European evolutionary fact factors feudal formation France French functionalist functions German growth Hegel Ibid idea independence industrial influence institutionalized institutions Karl Marx limited Marx Marx's Max Weber ment military modern monarchy nation nation-state organization Paris Parsons periphery Pierre Birnbaum political center political development political power political structures political system politique Presses Universitaires Prussia Reinhard Bendix relations result rise role Roman senior civil servants Shmuel Eisenstadt social differentiation social system sociologists sociology specific sphere state's theory Tilly tion traditional universalistic Universitaires de France University Press various Wallerstein York