State, nation-state, and forms of political intermediation

Abstract

This paper firstly situates the Nation-State historically as a product of the capitalist revolution. Secondly, it distinguishes the State (the law system and the organization that guarantees it) from the Nation-State or the country (the territorial political unit formed by a Nation, a state, and a territory). Thirdly, it defines Nation, civil society and class coalitions, by understanding that they are politically organized society forms, which role is to act as intermediaries between society and State. Fourth, it uses these concepts and the ones of relative autonomy and anteriority to understand the ever-changing relation between State and society. In early moments, the state or its elites assumed the lead, and then, as democratization took place, the protagonist role changed gradually to the people. The paper emphasizes class coalitions and argues that there are correspondent class coalitions behind the two basic forms of economic and political organization of capitalism - developmentalism and economic liberalism.