Exploring The Relationship Between Capitalism And Democracy: An Essay On State, EU, And Decommodification.

The importance of the concept of State in Political Science

Discuss about the Political Science for History of European State Formation.

The essay deals with the concept of state which forms an important component of political science, owing to the fact that it deals with the existence and inter-relation of different classes, the rights of citizens, the socio-economic relationships that citizens share with each other. The essay deals with the questions whether state is an important part of political science and what are the factors that have contributed to the formation of state. The function of European Union and how it has reduced the sovereignty of states.

According to Carnoy (2014) a state can almost act as the monarch on its members as it retains vast amount of power and status quo. The political science is always concerned with the study of state’s supremacy over the people and its territory. However, it must be kept in consideration that state is and should be studied as a distinct identity than that of a society. In case of a society it retains a broader picture consisting of the relations concerning social, economic, cultural and political amidst the people who are part of the particular society. Whereas on the other hand, state deals with the power equation of the study upon which political science is based. The subtle state-society dichotomy is nonetheless an important aspect of political science and the primary aim of such a study is to examine from close quarters the state-society dynamics that takes into its wider view the inter-relation between state institutions and their members. From the perspective of European countries, the current social framework gives a vivid picture of its political ideologies and beliefs and also gives a glimpse into the income gaps, inherent class and social divisions, the distribution of power, the nature of state owned enterprises. It lets the students of political science delve deeper into the functioning of state judiciary, yielding of power and how major politicians have managed to gain and maintain power in the state.

The study of state has been the foundation for analyzing the division of power in the state, economic insecurities, clashes of power amongst the dominant classes and the autonomy of state over mass media. As opined by Pavolini et al. (2015) state comes to dominate our understanding of politics by giving us a clear standpoint about the intricate relationship between human beings which is born out of interactions with one another resulting in an ultimate unified whole which has the power to affect each other within the framework of a state It is an organized political community with the positioning of a government with the aim of establishing law and order within a pre-determined territory (Rhodes 2016). State exercises a supreme authority over its individuals and can even apply coercive force for the sake of making the people adhere by state policies and regulations. State determines our understanding of politics. The very word politics is derived from polis which denotes city-state and its system of governance, the relationship of people with social institutions. To study political science one must be acquainted with government, the relation of human being with the community, and studying the social virtues (Anderson 2014).

The formation of European Union and its impact on state sovereignty

The formation of European states has been evolved as a result of division of power between the king and church. The feudal power structure was slowly replaced by centralized power in the state formation process of England. In Europe the state has always wanted to expand its realm of domination in order to centralize its powers with the authority to exert monopolistic power within its territory.  In the opinion of Miller and Rose (2017) the formation of European is the result of the decision of a number of institutions on the rejoining of which the member states lose some of its sovereignty. Europe has witnessed the formation of state between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries and by the slow process of power usurpation by violence to reign absolute over the administrative, judiciary and military domain The formation of state and the distribution of power has seen the autocracy of a king’s throne, manipulation of churches and other religious order, exploitation of the peasants, widening of the gulf between the rich and the poor and finally the birth of a constitutional framework for  the rightful vesting of power and authority.

The European Union has power over government and has the mission to advance EU instead of the best interest of the states. EU offers free movements of people amidst the countries which nullifies the power and sovereignty of states. Furthermore, EU also possesses the authority to make laws for instance securing the freedom of trade across the borders (Rhodes 2016). The state has lost their power and authority after EU gained status and control which permits them lay down certain rules on the agreement of the countries involved. The citizens that come under EU have the authority to vote for the members of European Parliament which has the power to legislate, supervise over European institutions and can also tamper with democratic control by the act of examining petitions from citizens and even set up committee to probe into the matter. As suggested by Hodgson (2017) indicates the opaque nature existing in between the European citizens and European Parliament

Therefore it can be clearly concluded that state is a fundamental part in studying politics. The formation of state is a result of growing strife between the authority of king and church resulting. One can also analyze how EU can yield maximum power over the states by making and unmaking laws. For the purpose of the study of political science, one needs to have a broader understanding of state-society relation of contemporary times.

Decommodification and its role in exploring the relationship between capitalism and democracy

The essay aims to deal with the concept of decommodification and its responsibility in explaining the relationship between capitalism and democracy. Further the essay will also question the formation of states based on the concept of decommodification.

Decommodification is the process by which an individual is entitled to hold a respectable social position irrespective of market participation. The process of making a capitalistic economy democratic involves extensive research on the concept of decommodification, in which the laborers are no longer treated like a commodity by their masters (Carnoy, M., 2014). Theorists have argued that the process of decommodification is of absolute necessity is labor power is to be reserved and used in the system. However the process of decommodification involves disincentive to work which is quite advantageous for the workers since it bestow upon them with basic rights and allowances. It is useful for differentiating between capitalism and democracy because it includes receiving welfare benefits from government instead of private sources.

This is helpful in understanding European welfare states that took active participation in relieving the poor people using government resources to provide healthcare housing and education plan (Pavolini et al. 2015). Decomodification is a major aspect of democratic state as it strives to ensure the decommodification of labor as individuals are free from the oppression of work or earning under the exploitation as it is the scenario with capitalistic states.  The welfare states are therefore potential in reducing the commodification of the workers. Opting out of the labor market signifies for human development which was a impossible under the structure o a capitalistic state (Carnoy 2014). As a consequence, this allows the individuals to benefit from protection against the existing as well as upcoming social risks. Individuals are therefore offered equal amount of opportunities in the market due to the creation of democracy. Marx has always argued on order to place decommodification in the light of moral goodness since it does not strive to control labor and make exploitative usage of it. Decommodification is therefore important to realize the formation of European states based on the model of welfare state stretching from 1990s to 2000s. the phenomenon was observed in states of Eastern and Western Europe that was intended to strengthen workers’ unity in the face of absolute authority of employer (Smith 2017). Various social institutions like schools and hospitals also get decommodified since they come under the supervision of the government. Therefore it is also proved that workers’ potentiality gets amplified due to the availability of education, health and welfare services. It is the process of transforming the state from under the regime of capitalistic power to democracy.

Therefore one can understand that the basic idea of decommodification is to free workers from the chains of market relationship. It can also be asserted that the model of welfare state has also been adopted by a number of European states to promote welfare and health benefit programs. The above paragraph explores how decommodification has the potential to uncouple the growing number of social groups from their market relations.

Reference List:

Anderson, J.E., 2014. Public policymaking. Cengage Learning.

Birkland, T.A., 2015. An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of public policy making. Routledge.

Carnoy, M., 2014. The state and political theory. Princeton University Press.

Christiano, T., 2018. The rule of the many: Fundamental issues in democratic theory. Routledge.

Hodgson, G.M., 2017. Karl Polanyi on economy and society: a critical analysis of core concepts. Review of Social Economy, 75(1), pp.1-25.

Levi-Faur, D., 2017. Regulatory capitalism. Regulatory Theory, p.289.

Pavolini, E., León, M., Guillén, A.M. and Ascoli, U., 2015. From austerity to permanent strain? The EU and welfare state reform in Italy and Spain. Comparative European Politics, 13(1), pp.56-76.

Rhodes, M., 2016. The future of European welfare: a new social contract?. Springer.

Smith, R.C., 2017. The Individual in Capitalistic Society. In Society and Social Pathology (pp. 169-248). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.