The Modern State: Justifications and Critiques

*Taught Online*  Modern nation-states have extraordinary power over the people who live within their boundaries. A nation-state like the United States can send people to war, punish them, seize their property, and more. Can such tremendous power be justified? Political philosophers have long debated this question. Many political theorists have argued that people consent to be subject to the power of states because life outside of the nation-state is far more difficult and dangerous. States provide a common authority to settle disputes, coordinate activities, and protect people. Other theorists have argued that modern nation-states are based not on consent but on conquest and domination. They point out that Black people, Indigenous people, religious minorities, immigrants, women, and the economically disadvantaged have often been denied a broad range of rights and privileges. In this class, we will consider both justifications and critiques of the modern nation-state.