Hendrik Spruyt - The Sovereign State and Its Competitors

The Sovereign State and Its Competitors

PRINCETON STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY AND POLITICS

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The Sovereign State and Its Competitors

AN ANALYSIS OF SYSTEMS CHANGE

HENDRIK SPRUYT

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Copyright 1994 by Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Spruyt, Hendrik, 1956

The sovereign state and its competitors / Hendrik Spruyt.

p. cm. (Princeton studies in international history and politics)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-691-03356-0

ISBN 0-691-02910-5 (pbk.)

eISBN 978-0-691-21305-7

Title. II. Series.

JC327.S65 1994 320.15dc20 94-10759 CIP

http://pup.princeton.edu

ISBN-13: 978-0-691-02910-8 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 0-691-02910-5 (pbk.)

FOR LUCY LYONS
AND MY PARENTS,
DOLORES AND HENDRIK SR.

MAPS

TABLES

THE FIRST research for this project started roughly twenty-five years ago when I participated in the 750th anniversary of the founding of my hometown. I was puzzled by the fact that virtually every town and village in the region seemed to be celebrating the same thing, because they all seemed about equally old. I ascribed it to either chance or a desire among the townspeople to engage in continual festivities.

I did not know then that similar activities were taking place in much of Europe, particularly in the northwest. These events, commemorating the foundation and independence of cities, were in fact evidence of a great political and economic transformation that occurred some seven centuries ago. It was that transformation, due especially to a surge in trade, that allowed political entrepreneurs and social groups to create new institutions to displace the older feudal and ecclesiastical arrangements. Not all of these institutions are with us today. Indeed, only onethe sovereign, territorial statereally survives, although shadows of other forms of organization are ubiquitous and discernible to the observing traveler throughout Europe.

The idea that the anarchical nature of the international system imposes a rational choice problem on the actors in the system is essentially a description of a historically contingent situation. The international system has not historically been, and consequently in the future need not be, of its present nature. This book tries to explain how the current state system arose, why it has existed for so long, and how the process of its demise might come to pass.

This work is not a novel historical analysis. Although I use historical materials, those in search of a dramatic interpretation of heretofore unknown archives will be disappointed. Instead I attempt to draw attention to the oft-neglected case that only in hindsight looks anomalous and quaint. Thus, although I look at France, the Hanseatic League, and Italian city-states, this work is only in a secondary sense the history of any one of these. Instead, these serve as exemplars of the general question of why sovereign territoriality displaced non-sovereign and nonterritorial logics of organization, and how this affects international affairs.

I have incurred many debts. Peter Cowhey and Tracy Strong read more versions of the manuscript than they probably care to remember. They did so, however, with great care and intelligence and offered continual support. The same holds true for John Ruggie, whose inspirational work set me on the course of this project even before I knew him. I hope that I have taken advantage of these colleagues insights.

Special thanks also go to Stephen Krasner who read the entire manuscript with minute care and who provided trenchant critiques and suggestions which helped me state my argument with greater precision. John Hall likewise read and commented on the manuscript with insightful suggestions. Victor Magagnas comparative historical knowledge was indispensable to carrying out this project.

It has never been explained to me why spouses are usually mentioned in the last part of acknowledgments. Oblique references to spousal support under the rubric of last but not least simply do not do justice to the support of my wife. I thank Lucy Lyons for all her help.

I also particularly thank Deborah Avant with whom I shared many drafts, critiques, and ideas and a fair number of large cappuccinos. David Bartlett, Ellen Commisso, Eric Fredell, Scott Gates, Martha Howell, Walter Prevenier, Robert Ritchie, and Donald Wayne read all, or parts, of this work and provided many useful suggestions and comments. Dan Deudney, Miles Kahler, John Mundy, Phil Roeder, and Wim Smit provided help along the way both in substantive terms and in suggesting relevant literature. I also greatly benefited from the assistance of the faculty and staff of the Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.

Economic forces held not only the future of Europe in sway. At the University of California, San Diego, and at Columbia University, I benefited from the financial support of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, the Josephine de Karman Fund, and the Columbia Council for Research in the Social Sciences.