ABSTRACT

The transition from the medieval system to the Westphalian order involved a consolidation of rule and territory.1 In particular, it involved a progressive congruence among territory, authoritative rule, nationalism and citizenship. Authorities that competed with the state were extruded, non-state purveyors of violence were eliminated or pacified (Thomson 1994), internal authority was streamlined, and external recognition (international legal recognition) came to be progressively aligned with the effective exercise of domestic authority. While this congruence is far from perfect (e.g., extraterritoriality, more nations than states), it served as a tendency within the state system for hundreds of years. There is no logical reason why these four properties have to come together. States and nations are often disconnected. Citizenship rights can be defined by territorial membership, market participation, and even membership in humankind, as the most abstract concepts of human rights would have it. Authority can be exercised over people of similar religion regardless of territorial location just as it can be exercised over all those within a territory. What is distinctive about the Westphalian order is the degree to which it has brought together authority, territory, nationalism and citizenship rights.