The autonomous power of the state

Abstract

The state is undeniably a messy concept. The main problem is that most definitions contain two different levels of analysis, the ‘institutional’ and the ‘functional’. The growth of the industrial power of the state is one in the logistics of political control. This chapter provides examples of some logistical techniques which aided effective state penetration of social life, each of which has had a long historical development. Despite the assertions of reductionists, most states have not in practice devoted themselves to the pursuit of a single function. ‘Binding rule-making’ is merely an umbrella term. The logistics of ‘concentrated coercion’—that is, of military power—differ from those of the territorial centralized state. Provided the state’s activities generate extra resources, then it has a particular logistical advantage. Territorial centralization gives effective mobilizing potentialities, able to concentrate these resources against any particular civil society group, even though it may be inferior in overall resources.