Rise and Fall of the State - Case Study Example

Rise and fall of the state Rise and fall of the state 1 Abstract: 1 Introduction: 1 Mercantilism and the state’s role: 3 Coming of industrialisation: 4 Fall in the role of the state: 7 Conclusion: 10 Reference: 11 Abstract: In the following paper there shall be made an attempt to realise and understand the role that the state plays in the functioning of society. The focus of the paper will be mainly on the changes that have been experienced over the years in the role that is played by the state, and the paper will try to analyse the societal pressures that have led to these changes in the role of the state and the government over the centuries. Introduction: The states as we know it today has not developed at one go, but are in fact the result of decades of evolution and development. In fact the state today is not stable but is still changing and evolving to ensure that the various new demands and needs of the citizens can be accommodated and realised within the state polity. The state is not a natural construct but is a social construct that has been developed by man to ensure that his various needs and rights be secured under the ruling and guidance of a neutral but powerful body (Rustow D.A, 1967).There have been many theories that have been evolved till date on the evolution and establishment of the state, including the divine rights theory and the more popularly accepted theory of the social contract evolved by three different theorists, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. Each of these three theorists gave different reasons for the establishment of the state and the role that the state would perform its powers and functions (Smith A, 1998).There has to be realised that each theorists wrote in the context of his social background and wrote in accordance to the needs that were existing in that time in society. But the similarity between all the various theories that they developed was that the state was not a natural construct but in fact was a social man made institution which came into being to ensure that the rights and the needs of man can be actualised into reality. In the following paper there shall be an attempt made to carry out a detailed discussion on the chaging role that has been played by the state with the coming of the capitalist’s form of economic set up in society. The paper aims at ensuring that the various factors that affected the changes that came about in the role that was played by the state are recognised and discussed. In the paper the discussion will be conducted not only through the study of the historical changes that came about in society, although that will also be a major part of the discussion, but also through examples and case studies of the current day scenario as it exists in the world today in various economies and nation states. It is only through such a discussion that a holistic understanding of the system of governance and the functioning of the state be understood clearly. The discussion is focused on the rise and fall of the role of the state with the coming of the capitalist form of economic development in society, and following this the globalization era that is today prevalent around the world (Dunn J, 1995). Mercantilism and the state’s role: The study of the history reflects that the first instance of the emergence of the state emerged with the coming of mercantilism in Europe in the 16th century. At the time in history the European society was following the feudal structure and set up of society, where the individuals had no freedom and the state was all powerful. It was observed that with the coming of trade and commerce to the societies in Europe there came to the fore front the ideology of Liberty which was first propounded by John Locke in his social contract theory of the state. The theory believed that all individuals were rational autonomous individuals who had the right to make free and independent choices in accordance to their under needs, without any influence from society or other institution such as family, state and others. Thus, the role that the state has to play became restricted to the public or the economic sphere and there was a clear distinction between the public and the private sphere. Under such a system there was observed that the role of the state was restricted to formulating and regulating the trade laws as international trade was on the rise during this period of time, and the role of state became very limited in accordance to the needs of the merchant class who needed to have space to ensure that they could function and trade at their discretion without any state intervention. During this period, the private sphere became big, and the role of the state became very limited in nature in accordance to the liberal though where the state wielded only a limited amount of power. This is an important part, as the coming of the mercantile period marked the beginning of the capitalistic era in the global economy, where the state emerged in a form as we know of it today. This was thus an important part of the development of state role as it helps formulate and establish the principles of a liberal society where the rights of the individual are given utmost importance and the individual though was allowed to develop and grow. There was space provided to ensure that the will of the individuals could develop without constrain. This period also witnessed the emergence of the enlightenment period, where the role of the church was confined and the development of a secular state as we know of it today emerged strongly in society. The church was seen earlier as an important part of the governing body in society, in accordance to the divine rights theory, but this theory was negated during this period and the state emerged as the sole proprietor of society and the rights of the people and the secularity of the state was developed and established during this period of time (Guibernau M, 1996) Coming of industrialisation: The study of the history of the world reflects that the stage of mercantile system of economics in Europe was prevalent from the period of the 16th century to the period of the 18th century. During this period there came to the fore front the ideology of the liberal individual, the secular state, the public and private spheres of society and the role that was played by the state was a limited one. The mercantile form of economics was the first stage of the development of the capitalistic form of economy as we know it in today’s day and age. But there was seen that with the coming of the 18th century, there were a number of changes that were observed in the economic, social and political set up society in Europe, which was later correspondingly observed all over the world. There has to be realised at this point of time in history, the European nation states of Great Britain, Germany, France and others were the power centres in the world, and any changes that affected these societies had a global impact. Thus, while studying the impact of the economic and social changes that led to the evolution of the role of the state the paper shall look at the changes that took place in the European society during this time period. With the coming of the 18th century, one of the most important revolutions in the history of mankind took place in Europe (Guibernau M, 1996). This revolution is known as the industrial revolution, which first took place in Great Britain, and then slowly spread to the various parts of Europe and through these countries it reached their colonies till the whole world had undergone the industrial revolution. The factory system of production was the most important change that was observed in the economic sphere of the various countries during this period of flux and change and this period marks the beginning of the modernised capitalistic system of economics as we know of it in the global society today. There was observed that with the coming of the mercantile system there had come to the forefront in the 18th century companies that were trying to gain control of the global trade system such as the British East India Company, Dutch East India Company and others. These later helped ensure that the system of the capitalism be solidified in the various parts of the world, through economic and political means. During this period of time there was observed that a number of economic theories developed, the most prominent of which was that which was developed by David Hume and Adam Smith. The theory that was propounded by these theorists suggested that the total amount of capital that existed in the world would remain constant and that constant cannot be altered or increased (Friedman, Milton, 1970). Thus, for a nation state to ensure that they are able economically more developed and to increase their wealth they would have to take away from the economic resources of other countries to increase their won resource power (Smith A, 1995). This gave rise to the system of colonialism and imperialistic dominance. Under this system, the various colonial powers, mainly the European states overtook the governance of various areas and countries, and exploited their economic resources through controlling their political power. There are various examples of this, such as the British control over India, Portugal’s control over East Timor, South African control over African countries and others. During this period there was observed that the factory system of production replaced the former system of man made goods production, there was a break down of the traditional class structure, and the middle class emerged along with the working classes. The role of the state was observed to have undergone a major change with the coming of the industrial revolution. This was mainly given the fact that with the coming of the industrial revolution there was observed that the society was in flux, there came to the forefront new classes in society, and there emerged the colonial dominance over other nation states. Thus, there was felt a need for a strong state that would help ensure that this transition took place smoothly without any revolt from the lower classes. Also there was observed that there was felt the need of a strong state to ensure that the control of the colonies could be carried out through a systematic fashion, where the interests of the colonial powers would be secured. Another reason which led to the emergence of a strong state in the European continent was the fact that with the coming of the era of colonialism there was observed that there emerged a race in the international society among the colonial powers to capture more and more areas under their dominance. There was observed that this lead to insecurity and a number of wars took place among the colonial powers to gain control over areas. Thus a strong state was required to ensure that the interests of the colonial powers are secured. Thus, there was observed that the role of the state under the early stages of modernization of capitalism became more encompassing and the state emerged as a strong actor in the function of the various nation states. Fall in the role of the state: The role of the state was seen to have increased manifolds with the coming of the industrial revolution in Europe, and this was only re-instated by the fact that there emerged a period of colonial domination, international conflict and economic insecurities. Thus, the role of the state in ensuring nation interests at the international level became very significant from the middle of the 18th century, through the first and the Second World War, to the middle of the 20th century. There has been observed that although this held true, the role of the state has changed significantly after the end of the Second World War with the emergence of the globalised era of capitalism. There are a number of factors that are responsible for this change that has been experienced. There has been observed that with the coming of the 20th century, there was observed an international outcry against the policy of imperialism and colonialism and there was seen that there was a demand of independence that was put forward by the various colonies. This led to the end of colonialism and imperialism and the state was no longer required to regulate the functioning of the colonies and due to this the requirement of a strong state diminished (Erhardt III, Erwin, 2008). Another important reason that led to the demise of the strong powerful state was the fact that most of the countries had by then achieved significant economic growth and stability under the state, and there was now felt a need to ensure that the role of the state be reduced so that the individuals are able to function as per their reasoning without any interference from the state. There was felt a need to revert back to the policies of liberalism where the individual was free from the regulation of the state and state intervention was minimal. This was advocated by almost all western countries which led to a fall in the powers of state. With the coming of the era of globalisation there was observed that there was a collapse of the local barriers and boundaries that had earlier been established by the state to ensure that the local markets have an advantage over the other markets and were able to function freely without any pressures from the international forum. Due to this collapse the government was no longer required to regulate the markets and thus, the role that it played was reduced considerably. Perhaps the most important factor that led to the fall in the role of the state is the fact that there emerged a number of international organizations such as the OPEC, EU and others that helped maintain international laws to regulate the functioning of the various organizations at the international level, due to which the local national governments are no longer required to engage in the economic sphere. This has led to a significant change in the role that the state play, and thus, it can easily be stated the role that is played by the state has decreased significantly with the coming of the globalised form of capitalism as it is in the world today. Even in the developing states that emerged as nation states in the post second world war period, the roles that is played by the states have reduced significantly in the 21st century where the role of most of the states and governments have become more regulatory in nature instead of active. For example, the nation state of India emerged as a nation in the post second world was period. The state at the time of the conceptualization of the country adopted a system of socialistic marketism, where the state runs most of the factories and a number of Public Sector Units were established with the help of foreign aid, yet there was observed that with the coming of the 21st century, in fact at the end of the 20th century, the country opened up its markets to global investment and in the year of 1991, the country adopted strong policies which called for rapid privatization of the market and for a reduced role of the state (Gellner E, 1997). There have been those who have been bitterly critical of the system of capitalism and the role that the state plays. In fact some people are of the belief that the state plays a role to ensure that the power imbalances that are in place continue to do so, and only safeguards the interest of the upper class. This has been strongly supported by the Marxist theorists who believe that the state is a tool in the hands of the bourgeoisie to control the people and protect their own interests. Yet there are others who believe that the state is the medium of change and it is only through this that equality be established. Certain people believe that the role that is played by the state will increase again with the coming of the welfare state, such as the government that is being led by Barrack Obama, which is looking to secure the interests of the more marginalised sections thro0ugh state interventions. Also scholars like O’Connor have said that- “The monumental achievement of millions escaping poverty underpins the rise of new powers – especially China and India – on the international scene but does not tell the whole story.  Today wealth is moving not just from West to East but is concentrating more under state control… With notable exceptions like India, the states that are beneficiaries of the massive shift of wealth – China, Russia, and the Gulf states – are non-democratic and their economic policies blur distinctions between public and private.  These states are not following the Western liberal model for self-development but are using a different model – “state capitalism.”  State capitalism is a loose term to describe a system of economic management that gives a prominent role to the state.” Conclusion: In conclusion it can be stated that the role that the state has played over the years is one which has been constantly evolving and changing in accordance with the economic and social needs of the individual. The role has today become more constrained in the wake of the emergence of the globalised system of capitalism. And in fact this was necessary to ensure that the global system flourished. But the challenges that are emerging with global economic crisis and inflationary pressure, the role that the state plays may again be seen to change in the near future. Reference: Erhardt III, Erwin, 2008, "History of Economic Development." University of Cincinnati. Lindner Center Auditorium, Cincinnati. 7 Nov. 2008 Friedman, Milton, 1970, "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits." The New York Times Magazine 13 Sep. 1970 Guibernau M, 1996, "Globalisation, Modernity and National Identity" Nationalisms, Polity, Cambridge, 1996, Ch.7 Gellner E, 1997, "Nationalism as a product of Industrial Society" in Guiberno and Rex (eds) The Ethnicity Reader, Polity, Cambridge, 1997. O’Connor J 2008, “State Capitalism on the rise?” Atlantic Council, December 1, 2008. Smith A, 1995, "The Crisis of the National State" Nations and Nationalism in a Global Era, Polity, Cambridge, 1995, Ch.4, Read More