"The Declining Authority of States"

                                           Susan Strange

                                             Structure

*      Strange's Position

*      Patterns of Authority in the International Political Economy

*      Questions

                                       1. Strange's Position

*      three main asumptions that constitute her argument

  --   criticizes social scientists, people in economics and politics; they work with obsolete
  concepts and cling to inappropiate theories

*      first assumption is that politics is a common activity, which is not only limited to
politicians and their officials

  --   understanding in the population that national politicians can not control economy

  --   politicians increase their interference in other areas of life to legitimize their own
  position

                                       1. Strange's Position

*      second assumption is that power over outcomes is exercised more and more impersonally by
markets 

     `a state has lost most of its influence

  --   prime cause of shift in balance of power is the accelerating pace of technological change

  --   Strange projects that technological advances will further accelerate in the future

*      third assumption is that authority in society and over economic transactions is exercized by
agents other than states

  --   escalation in the capital cost of most technological innovations

  --   governments can benefit from a Transnational Corporation's past and future investments without
  bearing the costs and therefore have strong reasons for implementing alliances with those TNC's

      `a but results in dependency and loss of power



                  2. Patterns of Authority in the International Political Economy

*      growing asymmetry among allegedly sovereign states in the authority they exercise in society
and economy (structural power)

  --   there has always been a difference between small and great powers

  --   but also some uniformity each state has in control over its own social and economic relations

  --   structural power some states have make them a lot more powerful than smaller ones, difference
  is ever-increasing

                  2. Patterns of Authority in the International Political Economy

2.   authority of the governments of all states has been weakened as a result of technological and
financial change and because of integration of national economies into one world economy

  --   shortcomings of national economies are not the fault of national governments

  --   not to be blamed on other countries as well

  --   the weakening influence and authority of the states results from the market economy

     `a "states as victims"

                  2. Patterns of Authority in the International Political Economy

3.    fundamental responsibilities of states in market economies are not in their control anymore

  --   vacuum in the international political economy

  --   "diffusion" of authority away from national governments

  --   some to other institutions and associations (EU), or to local and regional bodies (Germany `a
  federalism)

  --   has left spaces of non-authority ("ungovernance")

                                            3. Questions

*             Do we have one world economy like Strange suggests?



*             Do you agree with her view that countries do not have control over their economies at
all?