The StateinSociety Perspective

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The State-in-Society Perspective
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Critique of State-centered theories

• States are parts of societies, not separate from
  them
• States may mold societies, but they are also
  shaped by societies
• States vary in their effectiveness based on their
  ties to society
• Tend to focus on the bureaucratic dimension of
  the state

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Why ties to Society Matter

• State autonomy is a misleading concept
• In developmental states in East Asia, the state
  is strong because it has few ties to society.
• But in many African states, the state is weak
  because it has few ties to society
• This means it is the nature of the ties to
  society that matters

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Criticism states are not unitary actors

• States must be disaggregated
• This means we must break states down into their
  component parts
• State-society relations in capital
• State-society relations in periphery
• Central state-local state relations

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Disaggregating the State

• The commanding heights
• The agencys central offices
• The dispersed field offices
• The trenches

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Migdals formulation of the state-in-society
argument

• My central argument is that patterns of
  domination are determined by key struggles spread
  through what I call societys multiple arenas of
  domination and opposition. Officials at different
  levels of the state are key figures in these
  struggles, interacting at times, conflicting
  with an entire constellation of social forces in
  disparate arenas (Migdal, 19949).

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The role of the state

• Most political leaders believe the state should
  dominate political life
• State leaders try to create an aura of
  invincibility
• State power is sometimes limited

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How Do Social Forces Become More Powerful?

• Within an arena a state can dominate an
  increasing number of issue areas
• Arenas may grow to incorporate a larger share of
  the population or geographical area
• Social forces can use the resources gained in one
  arena to dominate in other arenas

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Outcomes of State-society struggles

• Total transformation
• State incorporation of existing social forces
• Existing social forces incorporation of the
  state
• State failure at penetrating society

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Strong States and Weak Societies
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The Politics of Survival

• or
• Why cant weak states overcome strong societies
  and what happens as a result?

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Social control

• State social control involves the successful
  subordination of peoples own inclinations of
  social behavior or behavior sought by other
  social organizations in favor of the behavior
  prescribed by state rules. Social control is
  power (Migdal, 198822)

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Strong States

• In strong states, social control is concentrated
  in the state.
• Within the state, it is distributed relatively
  evenly between state agencies
• This allows states to effectively implement
  policy, as no single state agency is strong
  enough to override or challenge the state

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Weak States

• In weak states, social control is lower and is
  fragmented among a few very strong state agencies
  (typically the secret police or military).
• This means centrifugal tendencies are strong and
  centripetal forces are weak

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State Leaders Dilemma

• In order to undermine strongmen in
  societytraditional village chiefs, kinship
  groups, religious leaders, patronsstates need to
  develop strategies of survival that will
  convince citizens to abandon the strongmen and
  support the state
• Strategies of survival are a mix of rewards (such
  as ways of making a living), sanctions, security,
  and symbols that giving meaning to life

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State Leaders Dilemma

• In order to be able to offer viable strategies
  for survival, state leaders need strong state
  agencies.
• But state leaders need to be sure they can
  mobilize the population to their side if state
  agencies challenge their leadership.
• But mobilization is impossible without offering
  strategies for survival to the population.

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State Leaders Dilemma

• The dilemma is thus that although state
  leaders need strong state agencies to generate
  social control, they are afraid that by making
  those agencies stronger they will pose a threat
  to their own rule

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Solution State Building

• Build strong state institutions, even if strong
  men hold most of the social control
• Problem?

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Solution Balancing

• Balance state agencies off one another.
• Example President Hafez al-Assad of Syria
  employed a regular army, but also around 20,000
  men in a Defense Unit and a 5,000 man Struggle
  Company. Assad deployed the Defense Units in the
  capital instead of regular troops. The Defense
  Units were led by Assads brother.
• Problem?

I dont trust my army.
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Solution Preemption

• Prevent state agencies from becoming strong in
  the first place
• Problem?

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The Big Shuffle

• Form of preemption
• Political musical chairs
• Shuffle around state agency leaders so they cant
  build a base of support
• No one has a political future in this country.
  There is no such thing as a political career
  here. Someone can be strong and have lots of
  power and then the next day hes out in the
  street they sack him ---- Mexican bureaucrat,
  1970s.
• Problems?

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Nonmerit Appointments

• Leaders and bureaucrats chosen not for skills but
  for political reliability

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• If I see the minister is a coward, automatically
  I kick you out of my office
• - Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator, 1971-1979
• Amin killed two of his ministers

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Cooptation

• Incorporate possible outside rivals (those
  outside of state agencies) into the power
  structure
• Example red capitalists

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Dirty Tricks

• Imprisonment
• Torture
• Disappearances
• Deportation
• Death squads

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Dirty Tricks in Real Life

• in 1975 Indira Ghandi, facing popular and
  electoral opposition, moved supporters into key
  posts in the Ministry of Interior and
  intelligence service, arrested her opponents and
  then declared a state of emergency

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• How does Migdal argue that we should view the
  state?
• How does this state-in-society approach differ
  from the state-centered approach put forth by
  Skocpol?
• What is social control?
• Who has social control?
• Why do they have social control?

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• Which view of state-society relations do you find
  more convincing?

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• What three indicators does Migdal propose to
  measure social control?
• 1) compliance
• 2) participation
• 3) legitimation

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• What is a strategy of survival?
• What are examples of strategies for survival?
• What makes a strategy of survival effective at
  attracting support?

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• How does Migdal think of society?
• A mélange of social organizations
• Groups with social control may be heterogeneous
  in form and rules applied
• Distribution of social control may be among
  numerous actors rather that concentrated in the
  state

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• How would you characterize the political system
  in Africa under colonialism?
• Why did the Colonial Powers choose to administer
  Africa in such a way?
• How would you characterize the political system
  in the post-colonial period?
• How strong was state social control in the
  colonial period?
• In the post-colonial period?

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• Who in society had social control?
• How would you characterize state autonomy in
  Africa? State capacity?
• Boone argues that colonial state policies in
  agriculture were undermining state power. How did
  this happen?
• What effect did patronage and clientalism have on
  state power? Why was this so?

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• http//www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251
  .shtml?id3997440n
• what does this tell us about strategies for
  survival?

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