Statecraft and Public Policy

MPP-1001

Lecture. 1
Statecraft - A Generic View

Dr Kalsoom Sumra
[email protected]
 State Defined
• The state is the most universal and most
powerful of all social institutions. The state is a
natural institution. Aristotle said man is a social
animal and by nature he is a political being. To
him, to live in the state and to be a man were
indentical.
• The modern term 'state' is derived from the word
'status'. It was Niccolo Machiavelli ( 1469 -
1527) who first used the term 'state' in his
writings. His important work is titled as 'Prince'.
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• The state is the highest form of human
association. It is necessary because it comes into
existence out of the basic needs of life. It
continues to remain for the sake of good life.
• The aims, desires and aspirations of human
beings are translated into action through the
state. Though the state is a necessary institution,
no two writers agree on its definition.
 State in Eyes of Scholars
• To Woodrow Wilson, 'State is a people organized for
law within a definite territory.
• Aristotle defined the state as a 'union of families and
villages having for its end a perfect and self - sufficing
life by which it meant a happy and honourable life'.
• To Holland, the state is 'a numerous assemblage of
human beings generally occupying a certain territory
amongst whom the will of the majority or class is made
to privail against any of their number who oppose it.'
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• Burgess defines the state as 'a particular portion of mankind
According to Sidgwick. 'State is a combination or
association of persons in the form of government and
governed and united together into a politically organized
people of a definite territory.‘
• According to Garner, 'State is a community of people
occupying a definite form of territory free of external
control and possessing an organized government to which
people show habitual obedience.‘
• Prof. Laski defines 'state as a territorial society divided into
government and subjects whose relationships are determined
by the exercise of supreme coercive power.'
 Elements of State
• Physical bases of the State
• 1.Population
• 2. Territory
• Political bases of the State
• 1.Government
• 2.Soverignty
 Concepts of State and Government
• STATE- is a community of persons more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of
territory, having a government of their own to which the
great body of inhabitants render obedience, and enjoying
freedom from external control.
• Theories on The origin of the State
A. Divine right theory
B. Necessity or force theory
C. Paternalistic theory
D. Social contract theory
 Inherent Powers of the State
• a. Police power
• It is the power to prescribe regulations to promote the
health, morals, education, good order, safety, or the
general welfare of the people.
• The most demanding among the three inherent powers
because it affects both the person’s liberty as well as its
property
• It is a growing and expanding power
 Definition of Statecraft
Statecraft
“the skilful management of state affairs; statesmanship.”
“The skill entailed in leading a state or country.”
“(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the art of conducting
public affairs; statesmanship”.
“the art of government and diplomacy.”
“ wisdom in the management of public affairs”.
 Instruments of Statecraft
• Interest, Intervention, and Containment
• Military statecraft
• Economic statecraft
• Inducements
• Soft power
• Public diplomacy
• Private diplomacy
• Multilateralism, minilateralism, bilateralism, and
unilateralism
• Diplomacy, legitimacy and communication
 The Challenge of Aligning Policy
Statecraft is the art of defining and pursuing national
objectives in their domestic and international contexts. It
is larger than domestic or international relations, and
broader than national security, economic or social
policy. It is a (perhaps un-stated) conceptual construct of
the individual, the nation, the state and all their internal
and external relationships, which unifies approaches to
all areas of policy. Notions of statecraft inform a
conception of a country in the minds of individuals that
drives actions across many disparate fields
 Effective statecraft
• Effective statecraft is based upon the interplay of all
sources of national power—including political, military,
economic, scientific and technological, social, industrial
and informational power.
• Its external aspect is expressed in four basic dimensions
of influence: diplomatic, informational, military and
economic.
• Its internal aspect emerges in attitudes to questions of
political, diplomacy, trade, science and technology,
culture, domestic policy settings, economics and military
force are not separable elements of government activity.
 Connection of Statecraft and Policy
Philip Bobbitt has argued,
• the domestic and external dimensions of policy are
intimately connected through conceptions of statecraft.
• It follows that, to be effective, statecraft must weave all
dimensions of influence into an integrated, self-
reinforcing whole, in pursuit of national interests. That it
rarely does so, and that errors of foreign and domestic
policy emerge partly as a result, almost goes without
saying.