SOCIOL 2 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Nationstates, Geopolitics
Document Summary
This means they have a geographically defined territory, marking what is internal and what is external. Nation-states are distinguished from each other in part by the borders drawn between them. Sovereignty and monopoly on use of force. Sovereignty = supreme authority over domestic affairs without external interference. Nation-states also have a monopoly on the use of force: they alone control the legitimate use of violence inside their territory. In modern nation-states, central governments and administrative bureaucracies. Nation-state is in part defined by its citizens and legally these citizens are supposed to be equal. The national government governs in the name of these citizens. Of course, not everyone who lives in a country is a citizen (like me!) And of course, we know that in practice there are many inequalities. Nation-states also involve the imagination of a particular cultural community: Idea of modern nation-state assumes its people are bound together by a common national culture.
