Abstract
While policing has always been plural, states have for several centuries sought to realize an ideal of a state monopoly over the governance of security. These aspirations have their roots in the political thought of Hobbes (among others) who wrote at the time of the Westphalian Peace of 1648. The ideals of this tradition were expressed by Weber's conception of the nation state as requiring a monopoly of violence. Within this political philosophy, aspiration led to claims that such a monopoly had been realized; that a political fiction was the case. Over the past several decades this fiction has been increasingly difficult to maintain even though the Westphalian aspiration remains very much alive and well.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 197-203 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Society in Transition |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2004 |