2 ms·
No government has an absolute monopoly on violence. Here in the US, some thug could steal my bike and likely get away with it. Much of the literature using that
by analog31 4y ago
No government has an absolute monopoly on violence. Here in the US, some thug could steal my bike and likely get away with it. Much of the literature using that definition includes coercion as a form of violence, and no government fully covers economic coercion.
If the number of entities in a society with discretion over violence is not equal to 1, what is the optimal number?
- woodruffw 4y agoThe literature normally refers to an "absolute monopoly on legitimate violence," since the state has no practical way to prevent all incidental acts of non-state violence.
- analog31 4y agoSure, that makes sense. I still wonder what an oligopoly on legitimate violence looks like. The closest thing I can think of is the sweatshop system, where each sweatshop has coercive power over its workers, legitimized by the idea that the worker chose to join a particular sweatshop.