State: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
As recently as A.D. 1500, less than 20 percent of the world's land area was marked off by boundaries into states run by bureaucrats and governed by laws. Today, all land except [[Antarctica]] is so divided.<ref name="Diamond_state">Jared Diamond. [[Guns, Germs and Steel]], p. 266, 1997. Referenced 2012-05-21.</ref> | States arose around 3700 B.C. in [[Mesopotamia]] and around 300 B.C. in Mesoamerica, over 2000 years ago in the [[Andes]], [[China]], and Southeast Asia, and over 1000 years ago in West Africa. | ||
As recently as A.D. 1500, less than 20 percent of the world's land area was marked off by boundaries into states run by bureaucrats and governed by laws. Today, all land except [[Antarctica]] is so divided.<ref name="Diamond_state">Jared Diamond. [[Guns, Germs and Steel]], p. 266, 278. Published 1997. Referenced 2012-05-21.</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
[[Category:Economic concepts]] | |||
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Revision as of 13:18, 21 May 2012
A state is an organization that maintains a monopoly on force within a given territory over which it claims ultimate legal jurisdiction. Proponents of the state defend it with the social contract. The validity of the social contract has been questioned by many libertarians, for example Stefan Molyneux.[1]
History
States arose around 3700 B.C. in Mesopotamia and around 300 B.C. in Mesoamerica, over 2000 years ago in the Andes, China, and Southeast Asia, and over 1000 years ago in West Africa.
As recently as A.D. 1500, less than 20 percent of the world's land area was marked off by boundaries into states run by bureaucrats and governed by laws. Today, all land except Antarctica is so divided.[2]
References
- ↑ The Social Contract: Defined and Destroyed in under 5 mins, 2008
- ↑ Jared Diamond. Guns, Germs and Steel, p. 266, 278. Published 1997. Referenced 2012-05-21.