CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Cheng, Bo |
|---|---|
| Title | States and Similar Things - A Configurational Typology of State and Its Diminished Subtypes |
| Summary | While the concept of “state” is central to “the discipline of the state”, it has not had a universally accepted definition. This deficiency has become an acute obstacle for the study on “states with adjectives”, where the conceptual innovation has been plagued by both terminological confusion and conceptual over-stretching. This thesis first explores the problems of conventional wisdom in making sense of the state then critically engages with the growing literature on “states with adjectives” and rebel governance to create a “configurational typology”. Drawing upon the classic Weberian ideal-typical definition of the state and recent developments in social science concepts (radial categories and diminished subtypes), this thesis offers an updated Weberian definition as well as a three-tiered typology based on different degrees of resemblance. It contains three diminished subtypes of state: de facto states, states- within-states, and rebel rulers. The typology is subsequently applied on trajectories of three different entities (South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and the Wa State) to test its fitness and utility. The first two are from the South Caucasus, where the literature on “states with adjectives” has traditionally focused on. The last one is from northern Myanmar, where the issue of rebel governance has been an important feature for the past seven decades. |
| Supervisor | Fumagalli, Matteo |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/cheng_bo.pdf |
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