Chapter 3 Learning Objectives and Key Concepts

Chapter 3

Learning Objectives

  • Understand how political scientists think about and define the state.
  • Comprehend the basic roles and activities of modern states.
  • Learn the major theories of state formation produced by comparative analysts.
  • Deepen their understanding of how hypotheses can be developed with the use of case studies in comparative politics

Key Terms

  • The Modern State
  • State Capacity
  • Failed States
  • The State–Society Relationship
  • Characteristics of Modern States
  • Bureaucracy
  • Impersonality
  • Sovereignty
  • Functions of States
  • Defense
  • Policing
  • Taxation
  • Order, Administration, and “Legibility”
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