Chapter 4

THE ORIGINS OF
INTERSTATE
SYSTEM

Prepared by: Fe Lorainne G. Gallego

Lesson
In This
 Explain the effects of
globalization on governments
 Identify the institutions that
govern international relations
 Differentiate internationalism
from globalism.
 The declining
power of
nation-states

THE FACTORS
BEHIND GLOBAL
GOVERNANCE Nation-states have The flow of digital
long struggle to information of all
problems that deals sorts through the
with interstate system.
internet;

Mass migration of
people and their
entry, often illegally
into various nation
states
 What then is the
difference between
nation and state?

a p o li t ica l
e St at e is
Th is a
t . A s t a te
concep h
al un it w it Nation
po lit ic is an et
. hnic con
e ig nt y A natio cept.
sover n is a cu
ltural a
especia nd
lly a ling
of peop uistic gro
le who f uping
eel that
belong t they
ogether
;
 State

refers to the community of persons permane

ntly
occupying a definite portion of territ
ory,
independent form external control, and posses
sing
an organized government to which greater body
of
inhabitants renders habitual obedience. It is
not
subject to external control. A single state
may
consist of one or more nations or people.
 State

State has four attributes or elements:

1. Population – called the citizens

2. Territory – it governs a specific territory
3. Government – crafts various rules that people follow
4. Sovereignty – refers to internal and external
authority
Internal sovereignty
no individuals or groups can operate in a given national
territory by ignoring the state.
External sovereignty
means that a state‘s policies and procedures are independent
of the interventions of other states.
A state may consist of one or more nations and
conversely, a nation may be made up of several
states. A state is a political unit that has ultimate
sovereignty — that is, a political unit that has
ultimate responsibility for the conduct of its own
affairs.
 NATION

is a group of people bound together by certain

characteristics such as common social origin,
language, customs and traditions, and who believe
that they are one and distinct from others.
is an ―imagined community limited for it has
boundaries; a single nation may be made up of
several states.
 Nation-state

is a type of state that conjoins the

political entity of a state to the
cultural entity of a nation, from which it
aims to derive its political legitimacy to
rule and potentially its status as a
sovereign state.
1.1 The Concept of System

In studies of international politics, the

conception of ―system has been used
mainly in two ways, international system,
and world system(s)
1.1 The Concept of System

International System
is a concept for analysis or description of
international politics or relations, but
therein lies a sense of prescription for
diplomatic or military action too.
1.1 The Concept of System

World System(s)
is a concept with which to analyze or
describe mainly politico-economic global
situations, while its implications for
political action are derived but only
indirectly
1.2 International System
and Society

In studies of international politics, the

conception of ―system has been used
mainly in two ways, international system,
and world system(s)
The Interstate
System

The origins of the present-day concept

of sovereignty can be traced back with
the Treaty of Westphalia, which was a
set of agreements signed in 1648 to end
the ―Thirty Years Wars between the
major continental powers of Europe.
Westphalian system

provided stability for the nations of

Europe until it faced its first major
challenge by Napoleon Bonaparte –
believed in spreading the principles of the
French Revolution – liberty, equality and
fraternity.
Internationalism

a political principle which transcends nationalism

and advocates a greater political or economic
cooperation among nations and people. It is a
system of heightened interaction between various
sovereign states with the desire for a greater
cooperation and unity among states and people.
 Divided into broad
principles:

ationalism
ral intern
Libe
reign is m is a f o
r n a t io n a l
ib e r al in t e a t li be r al
L r g u e s t h
t r in e t h a t a Socialis
policy doc i n t er v e n e in o t h e r t Inter
nationa
s s ho uld ue l
s t a t e
o r d e r t o p u r s is a wor
ldwid ism
n s t a t e s in a n e organ
s ov er e ig r v e n t io n c parties isation
. S u c h in t e which se of polit
je c t iv e s d democra ek to es ical
liberal ob il it a r y in v a s io n a n tic socia tablish
h m lism. It c
include bot ia n a id.
of demo
cratic s onsists
human it a r oc ia list, soci m ostly
and labo al demo
ur polit cratic
ical par
ties and
organis other
ations.
Immanuel Kant
major thinker of Liberal Internationalism in
the late 18th century

believed that people living together

require a government to prevent
lawlessness, without form of world
Jeremy Bentham
government, international system will coined the word “international” in 1780
advocated the creation of ―international
be chaotic.
law that would govern the interstate
relations.
also believed that objective global
legislators should aim to propose legislation
that would create “the greatest happiness
of all nations taken together.”
Giuseppe Mazzini
believed in a Republican government
(without Kings, Queens and hereditary
succession) and proposed a system of free
nations that cooperated with each other to
create an international system President Woodrow Wilson
believes that free, unified nation-states forwarded the principle of ―self
should be the basis of global cooperation. determination the belief that the
world‘s nations had a right to free,
and sovereign government.
 END

Prepared by: Fe Lorainne Gallego