The State Tradition in Western Europe A Study of an Idea and Institution [Paperback]

It is to such questions that this major study is addressed. With clarity and conciseness, Kenneth Dyson examines the fascinating tapestry of thought about public authority that the state tradition represents, and identifies the major individual contributions to that tapestry.Why have continental European societies developed the idea of the abstract impersonal state as the fundamental institution of political rule? Why, on the other hand, has this idea played a relatively insignificant part in the history of English-speaking countries? It is to such questions that this major study is addressed. With clarity and conciseness, Kenneth Dyson examines the fascinating tapestry of thought about public authority that the state tradition represents, and identifies the major individual contributions to that tapestry. In addition to offering a clear conceptualisation of state, he deals with such key issues as the role of the intellectual, the social function of state theories, and the difficulties of accommodating state and democracy.contentsNew Introduction to the ECPR Press Edition by Kenneth Dyson viiPreface xlvIntroduction: The State as Idea and Institution 1PART I THE HISTORICAL TRADITION OF THE STATEChapter 1: The Origins of the State 25The Birth of the Modern State 28 The Characteristics of the Modern State: TheContinental European Perspective 33England: An Aberrant Case 36Chapter 2: The State as a Socio-cultural Phenomenon 48The Concepts of State and Society 51The Crisis-of-Modernity Polity 58From Feudal to Clientelist Polity 60The Balanced Parliamentary and Dual Polities 62 Adversary, Authoritarian Corporatist andAccommodative Polities 66Conclusions 71PART II THE INTELLECTUAL TRADITION OFTHE STATEChapter 3: The State and the Intellectuals: Some General Considerations 81Academic Patrons and Coteries 83State as Organizing and Integrating Concept 93Chapter 4: Three Conceptions of the State: Might, Law and Legitimacy 101The State as Might 101The State aslãÜ