The Place of the State in a Differentiated Society
Historical and Systematic Perspectives
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6213636 |
|---|---|
| Authors | D F M Strau (0000-0002-2397-9181, North-West University, corresponding author), D F M Strauss |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 121-139 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Politikon (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0258-9346 • E-ISSN: 1470-1014 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02589346.2014.885681 |
| OpenAlex | W2057241523 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 9 |
What used to be called primitive societies may best be designated as traditional societies or as undifferentiated societies. While focusing on the place of the state within a differentiated society, it is meaningful to account for the differences between differentiated societies and undifferentiated societies, because such an analysis will help us to advance important systematic distinctions. Usually, the extended family (Grossfamilie) is seen as the smallest undifferentiated society with a typical undifferentiated form of organization. Even the lowest level of undifferentiated societies contains an ordering and relations of super- and subordination. Paying attention to the sib or clan is followed by a characterization of the tribe and Roman law. Diverse undifferentiated societies of the medieval era are found in the feudal system, guilds, and manors. All of these societies included activities which within a differentiated society are performed by societal entities with their own distinct forms of organization. Therefore, the state was not yet visible as a distinct societal entity. In the absence of tribal punishment, only relatives would take revenge, owing to the fact that there was not yet an integrated monopoly of power on a limited territory capable of enforcing the resolution of legal conflicts. Within early Germanic as well as early Greek and Roman Law, the practical enforcement of liability therefore had to appeal to private execution. After the Renaissance, the idea of popular sovereignty surfaced, but it was only when church and state parted ways that we observe the process of development which led to what we currently experience as differentiated societies. Finally, attention is briefly given to the legal competence of a government and to the nature of cultural–historical power within the state (its ‘sword-power’). As a public legal institution, the state is supposed to integrate all (and only) legal interests on its territory within one public legal order. Just as little as societal entities which are distinct from the state are parts of the state, is it correct to sacrifice the state by surrendering it to any non-political community or collectivity. Only this perspective avoids a totalitarian view regarding the place of the state within a differentiated society
Clan · Feudalism · Law and economics · Monopoly · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Historical Economic and Legal Thought · Historical Legal Studies and Society · Law · Medieval Literature and History
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2018 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |