Essay - The Community State

In previous history governance has been in the forms of large bodies ruling over large expanses of territory and people. These nation states, or in their smaller form, city states, due to their size, can be seen as disenfranchising large portions of their populations. The avenues for involvement in governance often exist but are unattainable to individuals or communities wishing to have a greater influence on the sovereign decisions that effect there lives.

As mass disillusionment with the many systems of government has fluctuated through history, new ideas have been designed to meet the desires of people wishing to have a greater say in the sovereign decision that effect them. Still, people are faced with the problem that in a mega nation-state that governs huge expanses of territory and people, the desire of individuals and groups to have the final say in the sovereign decisions made for them in and in there names are thwarted. This is because the decisions of a massive nation are at best a compromise trying to appease all people in the expanse of the nation and because these decisions are made for the people they effect, not by them.

It is my belief that, the solution to these problems cannot further be found in greater democracy, in the massive centralised state. Nor will the solution be found in a laissez-faire, capitalist approach to governance in the mega-state, and nor will the solution be found in a centralised communist approach. In order for the desire of the individual to have a greater say in the sovereign decisions that effect that individual, mere reform of the institutions of the centralised mega state is not the solution, a smaller form of state is required so that the influence of every individual has greater impact in the making of sovereign decisions.

What is a Community? What is a State? What are Sovereignty and Sovereign decisions?

“Community (…) A collectivity of individuals who share many values and life experiences, and can be expected to act with some degree of consensus and co-operation in political matters”- The Penguin Dictionary of Politics, David Robertson, 1993

Community is the term often used to describe the group of people who broadly interact on a day-to-day basis, in order to achieve the defined shared values and life experiences. Communities can be small towns, a suburb or small collection of streets in a city or even the people in a remote rural area who all drink in the same pub.

For the purposes of this document a state will be defined as “state (…) the organised political community under one government” (The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 6th edition). The state apparatus of a nation (or city) state is more than just its government, it includes the institutions of governance, the judiciary, police, education system, and it is the legal entity component of a modern nation (or city) state.

Sovereignty is the supreme power of a state to make any decision with in and on behalf of a state entity. Sovereign decisions would be those such as whether to go to war, what should or should not be legal in a nation etc. Sovereign decisions are those decisions taken or reserved as the domain of government.

So what is a Community State?

A community state would be a sovereign entity but instead of the entity or political community being a nation or as in more ancient times a city, the political community would be a small, close nit body of people who “share many values and life experiences” (Robertson, 1993). Sovereign power wielded to some extent or totally on a local community level, by the people of a community, for the people of a community.

How a Community State Benefits the Individual

When sovereign democracy is carried out on the level of the Community State, every individual has far greater impact on the making of decisions, greater control on the outcome of sovereign decisions and thus greater ownership of the process of government.

The decisions of government when carried out on the small scale of the community state and thus with more input and control by every individual in the state will to a much greater extent meet the needs and desires of all the people.

One of the major problems of modern democracy is the so-called ‘tyranny of the majority’. In a mega-state the will of the majority dominates to the extent that the needs, desires and aspirations of minorities and individuals are often suppressed. Also, in the desire of elected officials to appease as many people or at least the majority of people all the time, sovereign decisions made for the entire nation disregard the needs, desires and aspirations of everyone. As the state grows larger greater compromise is taken by elected officials in order to stay in office.

On the level of a Community state the state apparatus consisting more of every person is better able to meet the needs, desires and aspirations of a greater portion of the people more of the time. Communities are groups of people that politically often act with some degree of consensus; on a community level there will be less conflict of political opinion.

A note on democracy

Community Sovereignty assumes at the very least, a democracy. When power is no longer held through the people of the community in a democracy a state can no longer claim to be a community state, the community no longer rules. One of the great advantages of the Community State is the ability to enact freer forms of democracy due to the smaller size of the state. In a mega state the idea of enacting participatory and direct models of democracy is impractical, on a community level it is far more practical than the bureaucracy of a representative model.

The Community State creates an entity small enough that every individual can have a far greater input and sense of ownership, but for this to occur the avenues of democracy must exist. The Community State will take the theoretical avenues of participation of the mega state out of the realm of theory and into the realm of practice.

A note on Globalism and Globalisation

Through out the world today better communication, transport and overall improvements in available technology mean that the world is globalizing. Many see that the natural progression of globalisation is the creation of massive unions of states, increased world centralisation, and the apparent opposite of the ideals of community sovereignty occurring. Many also see this as a good thing. And yet in the world today inequality has never been greater, the benefits of these supposed advancements effect only the mega rich in a few western nations.

The current course of globalisation is merely a globalisation of the capitalist exploitive economic system that thrives on the existence and support of mega states. Globalisation needs to be a movement of people and not business, there needs to be a philosophy of ethical globalism in the communities of the world. The philosophy of the Community State is not one of isolationism; it is one of empowerment and thus responsibility. The communities and peoples of the world need to recognise their role as global citizens with a global responsibility to all peoples.

In the mega nation-state global responsibility is seen as the domain of the nation-state, having very little to do with the individual citizen. Through the greater participation and ownership of the state in a community state global responsibility is held by all people. By recognising global responsibility, the interconnectedness of the world and the responsibility of all people and then carrying this policy through with the conduct of individuals and states the process of globalisation becomes one of people and not business.

In the mega nation-state, force is the final arbitrator for all dispute and all problems (World Service Authority, 1997, Author Unknown), through a move to the Community State and an acceptance of our role as a global citizen we can create an atmosphere of global responsibility of all people to all our brothers and sisters through out the world.

"If there is to be peace on earth, let it begin with me." - Mahatma Ghandi

Will world peace be achieved by the gun toting, mega nation-state, or by the attitude of all individuals shaped by there role and sense of ownership in a Community State?

The Community State, a sovereign state of the community rather than an enormous swathe of territory and people known as a nation-state, is in my opinion the ideal form of governance. It allows for great participation in as well as control and a true ownership over the political process and the sovereign decisions of the sovereign state by the people of that sovereign state.

The idea of a Sovereign Community State exists and appears ideal, the benefits to individuals, world peace and an alternative, though not new, concept of globalisation appear on paper, how these ideals may be achieved and what form community states take in the real world is another problem altogether.

Bibliography

This reference list will be very thin, I apologise. This document draws on many ideas have encountered through out my life in numerous places, instead of being written after massive research it is merely the enunciation on an idea that has been floating in my mind and that i have been discussing online for some time.

“Originality is only undetected plagiarism” – Albert Einstein

Robertson, D."The Penguin Dictionary of Politics”,Penguin, 1993, (London, United Kingdom)

The Concise Oxford Dictionary,Oxford University Press, 1976, (Oxford, United Kingdom)

Author Unknown,“How to Mundalize”,World Service Authority, 1997 (01/01/2002)

Originally published (with comments) in Common Grounds, Hanover