1. The modern state
● A. According to Weber, the Modern state is an organization that has a monopoly over the
legitimate use of physical force in a particular area.
● B. The modern state’s monopoly over legitimate use
...
1. The modern state
● A. According to Weber, the Modern state is an organization that has a monopoly over the
legitimate use of physical force in a particular area.
● B. The modern state’s monopoly over legitimate use of violence is important because it results in
people giving up their authority over their own protection for the guarantee of state protection,
creating security and order. The monopoly over violence makes the state different from mobs,
gangs, and mafias, which offer competing forms of protections and thus uncertainty. Law is one
way that the state exercises its monopoly over coercion and violence.
● C. For example, according to Charles Tilly, before England became a modern state, violence was
decentralized, leading to constant instability and civil wars among lords. The demilitarization of
the lords and the creation of one professional military under the authority of the monarch was a
necessary part of state creation, because it increased security and showed that that only the
monarchy could legitimately use violence.
2. State of nature
● A. According to Hobbes, the state of nature is one of war against all. Humans are constantly
under threat of being killed, leading to a constant state of anxiety, insecurity, and distrust.
● B. The state of nature is important because it makes the social contract necessary. We willingly
relinquish some liberty to the state in exchange for the state’s protection. This shows that the
authority of the sovereign comes from the consent of the governed and that for Hobbes, the
purpose of law is security. People require a common power to keep them in awe, and this is
where law comes from.
● C. For example, the Charles Tilly reading shows that in the era before the modern state, English
lords were constantly trying to overpower one another, leading to constant civil wars. This shows
that the state of nature has played a role in the history of state-making: it wasn’t until the lords
were demilitarized and the monarch’s professional army created that the constant internal wars
ended.
3. Instrumental view of law
● A. According to Austin Turk, law is an instrument of power, and people can use laws to their
own interest. The five ways law is used as a means of control are (1) control over legitimate
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