Views of the state - from http://revisesociology.wordpress.com/

Weber defined the state as being 3 key things:

1. The State is created by people
2. The State can use force legitimately
3. The State rules over a geographical area, for example the UK

The role and power of the State is highly debated amongst sociologists, with a great variety of opinion surrounding it.

The Pluralist views of the State

Pluralists see the state as democratic and something that helps distribute power equally. Pluralists say that the fact that there are so many political parties and pressure groups within the state shows plurality and democracy.

Pluralists Dunleavy and O’Leary identified three views of the state, the weathervane, the neutral-state and the broker state model.

The weathervane model says that the State merely reflects public opinion, like a weathervane reflecting the direction of the wind. It therefore represents the opinions and concerns of the public, Westminster is merely a place used to approve the decisions already made by the public.

The neutral-state model says that…