Layered Authority and Social Institutions

Reconsidering State-Centric Theory and Development Policy

Bibliographic Data

ID8965004
AuthorsEllen Lust (0000-0001-9436-462X, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume50
Issue2
Pages333-336
Publication date2018-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0020743818000235
OpenAlexW2802115914
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

Political scientists, development specialists, and policymakers assume a central place for states and state action as they define problems and design solutions. They ascribe to the state dominance over all other social organizations, viewing it as pervasive and inevitably triumphant. Even scholars such as Joel Migdal, Timothy Mitchell, and James Scott, who focus on the boundaries of the state, portray the state as more organized, technologically savvy, and capable of extending its power than social counterparts, putting the latter on the defensive. Scholars and policymakers alike also have arrogated to the state the moral monopoly to pursue certain imperatives that other organizational forms can and do aspire to provide. These include providing security and protection from predation, allocating scarce resources, and arbitrating values and interests in society

Dominance (genetics · Economics · Law and economics · Market economy · Monopoly · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · State (computer science · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · International Development and Aid · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Public Administration

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