The term states and nation are commonly used in the international political theory. According to the totalitarianism, a state is defined as a vital institution that runs all facets of public life. Thus, some attributes of the state include: separation of powers and the rule of law.
However, both nation and state bear different meanings as a result of their past usage especially from the onset of 19th century to the eruption of World War I. In addition, the two terms became entwined with on another such that they are commonly perceived to be one and the same or even combined to form the term ‘nation-state’ in the modern society.
In the past Christian epoch, the state was viewed as an essential evil establishment, a biased cure to the sinful nature of humans. Nonetheless, as the 18th century came to an end, a number of Greek republicanism began to perceive the state as an affirmative force needed to enhance an ethical life in the society.
Thus, while a nation was perceived in the past as a grouping of individuals in one place, the onset of 19th century changed that perception as many scholars promoted the idea that the world was logically split into nations, and that these nations were the only genuine basis upon which a state was constructed. Power was also used on behalf of the nation, a concept used to represent people (Naiman 185).
A nation-state is referred to as a political unit that has power over a delineated territory that usually matches with the allotment of a merged ethnic identity. The nation-state in Europe took over from the imperial and religious basis for political authority after the Reformation.
The national sovereignty was a vital concept in social contract theory as it was used to limit outsiders from interfering with internal affairs of the country (Naiman 186).
Keynesianism is an economic hypothesis attributed to John Maynard Keynes, a British economist. Keynesian theories were crafted during the Great Depression in 1930s and later widely used by major Western countries in the post World War II period. These theories suggest that governments are required to utilize fiscal policy (government spending) and monetary policy (money supply) to influence the operations within the economy.
Keynesian theories strongly advocate for government deficit spending to reduce unemployment levels. According to Keynesian, the free market is unstable and thus unable to generate the optimal output in the economy. Thus, the government must to control economic factors to stabilize the economy and improve the welfare of citizen.
Since Keynesian is mainly concerned with changing economic factors, a move that is highly blamed for the recent financial meltdown witnessed globally, majority of government have greatly used the approach to validate their reactions to the financial crisis that occurred in 2008 (Naiman 189).
Democracy is a concept coined from the Greek language. It is composed of two words-demos means people and kratein means to rule or govern. Democracy is thus interpreted to mean: government of the majority or people. As a form of state, democracy is not the same as aristocracy, monarchy and dictatorship.
Thus, the powers exercised by a democratic government are vested with people, who elect it. The current discourses on democracy are heavily centered on American thoughts on international relations. After the 9/11 terrorist attack, President Bush viewed the expansion of democracy as a moral obligation and inevitable.
Thus the US perceived the democratization process as the only way of sustaining global peace where autocracy overseas threatens peace at home. For instance, the US spread democratic principles in Iraq in order to promote realistic policies in favor of idealistic one in the Middle East. Thus, President Bush viewed autocracy as a destructive peril to the US, which could be stopped by spreading democracy (Naiman 194).
Works Cited
Naiman, Joanne. “How Society Works: Class, Power, and Change in A Canadian Context. Eds.” Fernwood Publishing: Toronto, 2008. Print.