CHAPTER TWO NATIONS, STATES, RANK, POWER

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CHAPTER TWONATIONS, STATES, RANK, POWER
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State

• a legal/political and administrative entity
  composed of a governing authority that makes and
  enforces laws and is recognized as the primary
  subject of the international legal system. (p. 7)

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THE MONTEVIDEO CONVENTION

• On the rights and duties of states (1933) laid
  down four criteria that states must have

• a permanent population
• a defined territory
• a government
• a capacity to enter into relations with other
  states.

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• There are 190 legal/political entities
  functioning as states and claiming international
  legal status and are members of the United
  Nations General Assembly. (Macleans, Nov. 13/00,
  p. 49.)
• Today, less than 1 of the worlds population and
  territory remains without self-government.

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Nation

• a socio-cultural entity made up of a group of
  people who identify with each other ethnically,
  culturally, and linguistically.

• May or may not have a government or a
  geographically delimited territory of its own

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• Many nations may exist within the political and
  administrative jurisdiction of a state.

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Nation-State

• relationship between the state and the
  nationalities it serves.
• determines official languages, creates a uniform
  system of law, controls the education system,
  builds a national bureaucracy to defend and
  socialize different people and classes, and
  fosters loyalty to an abstract identity, such as
  Canada, USA, Japan, etc.

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Nation-State

• the most effective instrument of social and
  political integration and the primary vehicle for
  national modernization.
• (came about when Holy Roman Empire disintegrated)

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Country

• refers to the all-inclusive characteristics of a
  geographical entityits physical, material, and
  socio-economic components.

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Sovereignty

• the first principle of international law asserts
  that the nation-state is the supreme
  decision-making power within a geographically
  delineated frontier and is subject to external
  authority only by its consent.

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Principle of Legal Equality of States

• sovereign states enjoy the same rights and duties
  under international law, regardless of size,
  wealth, population, or military power.
• is affirmed in the legal equation of one state,
  one vote, practiced and enjoyed by all states in
  the international councils of the world.

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CONDOMINIUM

• when two states jointly rule a non-independent
  territory. (Andorra--Spain France)
• eg. Vanuatu, formerly known as New Hebrides was
  jointly ruled by France and Britain (1906
  1984) is now an independent nation-state.

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POLITCAL ORGANIZATION OF A NATION-STATE
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TWO TYPES

• Unitary
• Federal

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UNITARY STATES

• most common, 90 of the 191 UN member states
• are Unitary. (WFP June 21/00 p. B1)
• all sovereign power resides in the national
  government all other units of the government
  are its subdivisions
• delegates power to regions, and may be legally
  reduced, increased, or removed

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UNITARY STATES

• can impose its decisions on local governments,
  even if unpopular
• facilitates political and social control as well
  as economic efficiency
• eg. Japan, France, Arab States, Central
  American republics, some South American
  countries.

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FEDERAL STATES

• 23 nation-states are federal states
• is mutually interdependent political
  relationshiplinks a system of national and
  subnational governments, according to legal and
  constitutional prescription.
• all federal states have human as well
• as geographic factors that divide them.

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FEDERAL STATES

• amenable to countries occupied by
• people of widely different ethnic origins,
  languages, religions, political cultures.
• eg. Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
  Brazil, Canada, Comoros, Ethiopia, Germany,
  India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan,
  Russia, South Africa, Spain, St. Kitts-Nevis,
  Switzerland, UAE, USA, Venezuela, Yugoslavia

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FEDERAL STATES

• more than one unit of government has
  responsibility for a citizen living in any part
  of the country (in Canada federal and
  provincial governments)

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• Canada is a Conciliatory federation
• Other types are
• Matured
• Centralized

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• Constitution Act of 1867 (BNA Act) gave the
  federal government four important powers that
  strongly favored a strong national government

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BNA ACT, 1867 GAVE OTTAWA

• residual power
• declaratory power
• disallowance power
• reservation power

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THE ENDRead Ch 2