Racionalidad, cultura e ideología. Las dimensiones sociales detrás del monopolio de la violencia física legítima

Abstract

When the State is studied, the preeminence of coercive means is an unavoidable aspect in its definition. This fact shows the great acceptance that weberian definition of the State as a monopoly of legitimate physical coercion had in social sciences. For this reason, starting from this conception, this paper intends to expose the existence of social dimensions in a political community that seek its permanence and stability through the institution of such monopoly; namely, rationality, culture and ideology. Consequently, it is also proposed to extend the understanding of the State in general. To this end, works that theorize about the origins and characteristics of the State are exposed to understand how these social dimensions serve as foundations to exercise the monopoly of legitimate physical violence.