POLI 227 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Scottish Enlightenment, Berlin Wall, Civil Society
4 Sep 2016
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Middle east, but elsewhere too o o o o o o. Sharp contrast with the w. european path of state-building o. State collects rents on things it does not produce (oil, gold, customs duties on foreign trade) Exclusion of majority, little or no say in how rents are spent. The importance of state institutions: defining and pursuing a public good. Aggregating unit: who"s in, who"s out. Undermining the rule of law in weak states: impunity and lack of accountability, violence. Making democracy problematic: revolutions become the extreme reaction, polarization between minority (wealth winner, civil society. Rediscovering the concept in the late 1980s: brought down the berlin wall. Much earlier tradition: adam ferguson (scottish enlightenment, colleague of adam smith) and capitalism: spread of market lead to interrelationships between people. Western or universal: transitions to democracy. Necessary for the formation of a state, although can be seen as a challenge to the state.
