Studying+the+State+through+State+Formation

Summary: 1. “Origins of Bureaucratic Centralization” a. Bureacratic centralization is a key feature of states. b. Why did states centralize? i. Early research views war as the primary explanatory variable. (e.g. Tilly) ii. Later scholars questioned whether war has an impact and if so, to what degree and under what conditions (e.g. Ertman, Spruyt, Tin-bor Hui, Centeno). Some even pointed out that war can hinder centralization. iii. Other explanatory variables: elite politics (e.g. Adams, Gorski), religious doctrines (e.g. Gorski), administrative models, ideologies, economic factors, and colonial legacies(e.g. Kohli, Herbst). 2. “Origins of Democratic and Authoritarian Institutions” a. Why are some states democratic while others are authoritarian? i. Early research on West European cases which trace the development of representative governments to a ruler’s need to bargain with other elites (for money, military, etc.) assume an environment where such groups exist which are powerful enough to force a ruler to bargain. ii. This environment didn’t always exist, though. Sometimes the state is strong enough not to have to bargain with anyone (e.g. military colonial states) iii. Sometimes authoritarian states are protective rather than predatory, offering social welfare, legal protection, and protection of the freedom of expression (Hui) iv. There may be a high degree of local autonomy within states. 3. “Conceptual and Methodological Improvements” a. What refinements can we make to the ways we think about states? i. States are not only material (military, bureaucracy) but also cultural (grounding legitimacy in religion, patriarchy, and other ideologies). ii. States are not autonomous actors nor causal variables, but sites in which many other human actors act.
 * Tuong Vu, “Studying the State Through State Formation,” World Politics 62, no. 1 (January 2010): 148-175.**
 * Thesis:** This article is a review of the literature on comparative state formation. The author argues that, rather than being of merely historical interest, state formation tells us something about enduring features of states. He goes beyond previous literature reviews on state formation by comparing cases across time and across geographical locations, extending beyond Europe and looking at, for example, Asian, African, and Latin American states.