Transactional Leadership Theory – Meaning, its Assumptions and Implications
The transactional style of leadership was first described by Max Weber in 1947 and then by Bernard Bass in 1981. This style is most often used by the managers. It focuses on the basic management process of controlling, organizing, and short-term planning. The famous examples of leaders who have used transactional technique include McCarthy and […]
What is Bureaucracy? – Definition and its Purpose
Definition and Purpose of Bureaucracy What comes to your mind when you encounter the term bureaucracy? More often than not, you would think of slow moving, obstacle filled, and tedious processes that do not get your job done but instead, make you run around from pillar to pillar for your work. Though most of us […]
Ethical Issues in HR
Of all the organisational issues or problems, ethical issues are the most difficult ones to handle or deal with. Issues arise in employment, remuneration and benefits, industrial relations and health and safety. Diagrammatic representation of HR Ethical Issues Cash and Compensation Plans There are ethical issues pertaining to the salaries, executive perquisites and the annual […]
Need for a Gender Equality Strategy to Actualize women’s Empowerment
The Glass Ceiling and the Persistent Problem of Gender Discrimination More often than not, corporates pay lip service to gender equality wherein they have a gender policy in place without much changing on the ground. Indeed, most corporates worldwide are mandated by the law to have a clear policy that deters sexual harassment at the […]
Office Party Etiquette
Etiquette is all about behaving in a socially acceptable way. An individual should behave in a certain way at the workplace to leave his mark. One needs to be little more mature and responsible at the workplace. Etiquette refers to skill sets required by an individual to find a place in the society. No one […]
The previous articles discussed the basic concepts of political science including how the concepts of nation states and sovereignty came into being. This article takes the discussion further by examining how states have formed and developed over the decades as well as the changes occurring in the way states are governed and managed.
The first aspect of state formation relates to the unitary concept of sovereignty wherein nations exist as entities that are autonomous and independent. For instance, the British and French colonial powers ceded independence to their erstwhile client states in the aftermath of the Second World War. Next, many countries came into existence because of historical and geographical realities. Hence, the formation of states has happened either due to fights for independence or because of the redrawing of the maps due to geopolitical considerations. This is the case with Iraq and other countries in the erstwhile Soviet Bloc that were amalgamated with the larger Soviet Union because of contiguities and the need for expansion.
The development of states has happened after these countries gained independence and this was accompanied by a concomitant move to develop their economies and strengthen the institutions of governance. For instance, India adopted a new constitution and embarked on state building, which is now yielding results in terms of improved living conditions for the people when compared with those under British rule.
Further, states like those that became independent after the collapse of the communist regimes are now establishing themselves as strong states with flourishing economies mainly due to concerted efforts at state building and state development.
The third aspect of changes in the ways and means of how the states go about their activities is to do with how the political economy evolves over a period of time. For instance, Pakistan has experimented with both democracy and military rule without success in either whereas Egypt has made the transition from autocratic rule to democratic rule successfully.
The point here is that the key factor for states to change over time is the resilience of the institutions of governance as well as the ability of the people to effect change. Hence, states that have stronger institutions and less internal fissures have changed for the good whereas states that are weak in the center or are pulled apart due to centripetal forces have become failed states. Finally, the processes of state formation, development, and change can happen through revolutions as was seen recently during the Arab Spring of 2011.
Before concluding this article, it needs to be mentioned that this brief introduction is just an overview and the themes introduced in this article would be explored in detail in subsequent articles. The key point to be noted is that we live in an era that is marked by rapid and unprecedented change and hence, those states that have succeeded in establishing structures of governance are the ones that would ultimately succeed and thrive in this environment.
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What is Compassionate Capitalism and Why We Need it in These Times of Planetary Crisis ?
February 12, 2025
