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How the U.S. State Works: A Theory of Standardization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2011

Desmond King  and
Marc Stears
Desmond King
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Nuffield College. E-mail: desmond.king@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Marc Stears
Affiliation:
University College, Oxford and the Institute for Public Policy Research. E-mail: marc.stears@politics.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Many existing accounts of the American state search for identifiable features of stateness recognizable from the comparative politics of state theory. These are less present in the US because of a distinct history, institutional separation of powers, and an ideological populism based in opposition to public sector expansion. Despite these constraints the American state is a powerful actor in US politics and has been since the nineteenth century engaged in familiar revenue raising, regulatory, public order, coercive, military, and distributive functions. To understand these we propose a framework based on how the endogenous drive to standardize shapes these functions and gives a distinct character to the American state. We identify impulses to standardize, instruments of standardization, and enduring obstacles to this agenda.

Type
Research Article
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 505 - 518
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

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