Political theory and the modern state : essays on state, power, and democracy PDF
Preview Political theory and the modern state : essays on state, power, and democracy
POLITICAL THEORY AND THE MODERN STATE Political Theory and the Modern State Essays on State, Power, and Democracy David Held Polity Press Essays 1 and 4 © 1984 The Open University Essay 2 as originally published © The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Editors 1984 Essay 8 © 1988 The Open University Essay 9 as originally published © Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1984 This collection and all other essays © David Held 1989 First published 1989 by Polity Press in association with Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Reprinted 1990, 1995, 1998, 2000 Editorial office: Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Marketing and production: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 108 Cowley Road Oxford OX4 1JF, UK All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or other wise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-7456-0619-9 ISBN 0-7456-0620-2 (pbk) Phototypeset in 10 on 12 pt Baskerville by Downdell Limited, Oxford Printed in the United States of America Contents Preface vii Introduction 1 1 Central Perspectives on the Modern State 11 2 Class, Power and the State 56 3 Legitimation Problems and Crisis Tendencies 79 4 Power and Legitimacy 99 5 Liberalism, Marxism and the Future Direction of Public Policy 158 6 The Contemporary Polarization of Democratic Theory: The Case for a Third Way 174 7 Citizenship and Autonomy 189 8 Sovereignty, National Politics and the Global System 214 9 A Discipline of Politics? 243 Index 260 Preface The essays in this volume, written in the main over the last five years, are concerned to map out the terms of discourse about the modern state and to offer an initial assessment of them. They examine, among other topics, the notion of the modern state, the efficacy of the concept of sovereignty, problems of power and legitimation, sources of political stability and crisis, and the future of democracy. In so doing, they provide an introduction to many of the central issues of modern politics and political thought. Although the majority of the essays have been published before, they have all been edited and revised for this volume. Essays 6, 7 and 8 appear here for the first time and develop arguments which are central both to the earlier essays and to my most current concerns. Together, the articles continue and develop themes I approached in earlier books, especially Introduction to Critical Theory and Models of Democracy, and lay a basis for a set of arguments I will amplify further in a forthcoming work, The Foundations of Democracy. Over the years in which I wrote these pieces, many friends and colleagues have provided invaluable encouragement and assistance. I should like to thank in particular David Beetham, John Dunn, John Keane, Joel Krieger, Adrian Leftwich, Greg McLennan and Christopher Pollitt. Joel Krieger and Adrian Leftwich co-authored essays 2 and 9, respectively; I am extremely grateful to them for allowing me to reproduce these essays and for the free hand they gave me in making amendments. Anthony Giddens, Stuart Hall, John Thompson and Michelle Stanworth not only provided indispensable intellectual guidance but also offered routine forms of support without which, even if I could have survived, it would have been radically less pleasurable to do so. And thanks, finally, to Rosa and Joshua – whose adeptness at strategic maneuvering reminds me daily that politics is an irreducible part of everyday life!
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