The focus of this week is the STATE. Keep in mind that there are several types of states in addition to the modern

The focus of this week is the STATE. Keep in mind that there are several
types of states in addition to the modern, democratic one. Moreover, we could easily spend an entire semester just on the concept of the ‘state’ by itself. The same can be said for ‘classical liberalism’ or ‘constitutionalism’ as well. Unfortunately, we are limited to how far we can delve into each topic considering the nature of this introductory course and also the fact that we only have eight weeks. However, hopefully the topics we have been studied are beginning to gel and are beginning to make sense.
During the past two weeks, we have been exploring the concept of ‘classical liberalism’, which is the foundation of liberal democracy. In conjunction with classical liberalism, we should also consider the importance of constitutionalism. We can think of the Constitution as a blueprint for modern, democratic governance. We can think of the democratic state as we know it today as a political body consisting of ideas, norms predicated on ‘classical liberalism’, a constitution to deliver how the state should function, the political entities of a state (e.g. Congress, Parliament, bureaucracy, institutions), an economy, a military and political boundaries which are inhabited by the citizens of the state. However, the state in reality is a much more complex organism than this and the state as we know it today is forever evolving and grossly complex. Whereas states of the 19th and 20th centuries were more easily identifiable along cultural and ethnic lines, the ‘state’ of today is bombarded with global, technological and communicative forces that didn’t exist in previous times. Thus, the democratic state and any kind of state for that matter is without a question a complex creature.
We will be a little biased in this class and focus more on the modern, democratic state for the sake of time and for a better understanding of our own Western society. Although states existed in some form in Ancient Greece and Rome, the modern state as know it know is a historical creation and a relatively new one in the evolution of human history. In fact, the modern state, one which loosely resembled what we have today, really did not emerge until the late 1790’s.
To really understand the modern, liberal state, it is necessary to first understand the concepts of constitutionalism and classical liberalism. Hopefully, you can begin to make sense of what we have been studying last few weeks, which will ultimately lead to a better understanding of the ‘state’ as it exist in contemporary times.
To better understand the state, it is best to revisit the principles of classical liberalism. Part of the readings for this week is to read and/or listen to John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. I do not expect you to read an extensive amount Locke’s work, but just a handful pages and a lecture. I think it is prudent to expand upon our knowledge of classical liberalism to further make sense of what we have been studying the past three weeks. It is paramount to at least read over the basics of John Locke’s writings since he is largely considered to be the most prominent author of Classical liberalism. Although you are only required to read a sliver of his work in this class, I encourage you to read more of his writings if you have a chance.
With this in mind, please answer the following Discussion Questions.
1) According to the lecture and the Lecture on the Second Treatise of Government (Chapters 1 to 5) ,What do you think Locke would consider to be legitimate government? How do some of Locke’s ideas reflect the principles of the United States Constitution and Classical Liberalism?

2) According to Chapter Two of the the Second Treatise of Government and the the lecture on Locke . What is the State of Nature according to Locke?

3) Based on the PowerPoint notes attached ‘Notes on the Modern State’, What is a state? Why did the modern state emerge and how has it continued to evolve? (Please see the attachment)

4) Based on the reading Defining State and Society, what are the 4 theories of how the state emerged outlined by the Author?

5) According to the article On the Role of the State in an Increasingly Borderless World , what conclusion does the author come to in regards to the future of the state? Do you think that globalization will eventually lead us to a world of borderless states or even some sort of one world government?

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