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Poulantzas' main contribution to the Marxist literature on the state was the concept of 'relative autonomy' of the state. While Poulantzas' work on 'state autonomy' has served to sharpen and specify a great deal of Marxist literature on the state, his own framework came under criticism for its 'structural functionalism'. [citation needed]
Unlike primary state formation, early state formation does not require the creation of the first state in that cultural context or autonomous development, independently from state development nearby. Early state formation causation can thus include borrowing, imposition, and other forms of interaction with already existing states.
Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. [1] [2] [3] Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. [4]In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate authority over other people and to change existing laws. [5]
Although the terms "state" and "government" are often used interchangeably, [59] international law distinguishes between a non-physical state and its government; and in fact, the concept of "government-in-exile" is predicated upon that distinction. [60] States are non-physical juridical entities, not organisations of any kind. [61]
National power is defined as the sum of all resources available to a nation in the pursuit of national objectives. [1] Assessing the national power of political entities was already a matter of relevance during the classical antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and today.
At the same time, Ratzel was creating a theory of states based around the concepts of Lebensraum and Social Darwinism. He argued that states were analogous to 'organisms' that needed sufficient room in which to live. Both of these writers created the idea of a political and geographical science, with an objective view of the world.
State capacity is widely cited as an essential element to why some countries are rich and others are not: "It has been established that the richest countries in the world are characterized by long-lasting and centralized political institutions"; "that poverty is particularly widespread and intractable in countries that lack a history of ...
If weak states attempt to rewrite these rules as they prefer them, strong states will typically intervene to rectify the situation. [5] The ideology of the interstate system is sovereign equality, and while the system generally presents a set of constraints on the power of individual states, states within the system are "neither sovereign nor ...