the State´s Monopoly of the Legitimate Violence

There is a scolarly consensus that the monopoly on legitimate violence is an essential element of the modern state. But whereas this Weberian formula has been quoted innumerable times, there is little literature on the origins, the effectiveness or the institutional changes of this monopoly in the course of history. The enormous consequences of the existence or non-existence of this monopoly for the evolution of modern societies are often underestimated. Part One of this research project starts with the high levels of violence in late medieval society, the establishment of the modern state as a consequence of the "military revolution", the ineffectiveness of the monopoly during the period of the Ancien Regime, and finally the most important transformation in the history of the monopoly: the increasing professionalism in the military for inter-state wars, which made the military unable to cope with internal violence, therefore the emergence of new institution: the police.Part Two concentrates on different regions in contemporary world society: In Africa the decay of the postcolonial state is still going on resulting in many cases of "collapsed states" and correspondingly in an escalation of violence. Even in Latin America more and more scholars see a "Columbianization of the continent". In Asia many regions are still more or less "stateless" parts of the world society, Afghanistan being only a very prominent example, the situation in other countries in Central Asia is not very different. - Many experts are concerned because of the growing "crime infected economy" or even "crime based economy" in nearly all countries of the former Soviet Union. - Whether or not there is a crisis of the monopoly on legitimate violence even in Western democracies is hotly debated, but there are indicators that cannot be overlooked.Part Three is related to the phenomenon of "terrorism". As the events of "September 11th" have demonstrated, the governments of the western world underestimated the dangers emanating from a "revolution in terrorism", that is the new terrorist organizations have to be characterized now by an almost total neglect of conventional moral standards and intend, in contrast to former terrorists, to kill as many people as possible in any terrorist act. Most interesting, the organizational basis of Al Quaeda and other islamist groups are located in regions where there is no state are all or where the monopoly of the state is ineffective. Finally, there is growing concern in US of a new "domestic terrorism" coming from rightwing extremism.

There is a scolarly consensus that the monopoly on legitimate violence is an essential element of the modern state. But whereas this Weberian formula has been quoted innumerable times, there is little literature on the origins, the effectiveness or the institutional changes of this monopoly in the course of history. The enormous consequences of the existence or non-existence of this monopoly for the evolution of modern societies are often underestimated. Part One of this research project starts with the high levels of violence in late medieval society, the establishment of the modern state as a consequence of the "military revolution", the ineffectiveness of the monopoly during the period of the Ancien Regime, and finally the most important transformation in the history of the monopoly: the increasing professionalism in the military for inter-state wars, which made the military unable to cope with internal violence, therefore the emergence of new institution: the police.Part Two concentrates on different regions in contemporary world society: In Africa the decay of the postcolonial state is still going on resulting in many cases of "collapsed states" and correspondingly in an escalation of violence. Even in Latin America more and more scholars see a "Columbianization of the continent". In Asia many regions are still more or less "stateless" parts of the world society, Afghanistan being only a very prominent example, the situation in other countries in Central Asia is not very different. - Many experts are concerned because of the growing "crime infected economy" or even "crime based economy" in nearly all countries of the former Soviet Union. - Whether or not there is a crisis of the monopoly on legitimate violence even in Western democracies is hotly debated, but there are indicators that cannot be overlooked.Part Three is related to the phenomenon of "terrorism". As the events of "September 11th" have demonstrated, the governments of the western world underestimated the dangers emanating from a "revolution in terrorism", that is the new terrorist organizations have to be characterized now by an almost total neglect of conventional moral standards and intend, in contrast to former terrorists, to kill as many people as possible in any terrorist act. Most interesting, the organizational basis of Al Quaeda and other islamist groups are located in regions where there is no state are all or where the monopoly of the state is ineffective. Finally, there is growing concern in US of a new "domestic terrorism" coming from rightwing extremism.