Theories of the state
In most Western industrialized countries the state possesses clear liberaldemocratic
features. Liberal-democratic states are, for instance, characterized
by constitutional government, a system of checks and balances
amongst major institutions, fair and regular elections, a democratic
franchise, a competitive party system, the protection of individual rights
and civil liberties and so forth. Although there is broad agreement about
the characteristic features of the liberal-democratic state, there is far less
agreement about the nature of state power and the interests that it
represents. Controversy about the nature of the state has, in fact,
increasingly dominated modern political analysis and goes to the very
heart of ideological and theoretical disagreements. In this sense, the state is
an ‘essentially contested’ concept: there is a number of rival theories of the
state, each offering a different account of its origins, development and
impact.
Mainstream political analysis is dominated by the liberal theory of the
state. This dates back to the emergence of modern political theory in the
writings of social-contract theorists such as Hobbes and Locke. These
thinkers argued that the state had risen out of a voluntary agreement, or