The state
- ISBN: 9780691182209
- Editorial: Princeton University Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2023
- Lugar de la edición: Princeton (NJ). Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
- Encuadernación: Cartoné
- Medidas: 24 cm
- Nº Pág.: 376
- Idiomas: Inglés
A major new account of the state and its importance by a leading political philosopher
The future of our species depends on the state. Can states resist corporate capture, religious zealotry, and nationalist mania? Can they find a way to work together so that the earth heals and its peoples prosper? Or is the state just not up to the task? In this book, the prominent political philosopher Philip Pettit examines the nature of the state and its capacity to serve goals like peace and justice within and beyond its borders. In doing so, he breaks new ground by making the state the focus of political theory-with implications for economic, legal, and social theory-and presents a persuasive, historically informed image of an institution that lies at the center of our lives.
Offering an account that is more realist than utopian, Pettit starts from the function the polity is meant to serve, looks at how it can best discharge that function, and explores its ability to engage beneficially in the life of its citizens. This enables him to identify an ideal of statehood that is a precondition of justice. Only if states approximate this functional ideal will they be able to deal with the perennial problems of extreme poverty and bitter discord as well as the challenges that loom over the coming centuries, including climate change, population growth, and nuclear arms.
Introduction : motivating the argument
Part I: The role of the state and its demands
The function of the polity
The polity incorporated
The polity decentralized
Part II. The potential of the state and its dimensions
The collective powers of citizens
The individual rights of citizens
The demands of a market economy
Conclusion : outlining the argument
