State's Monopoly on Violence

This cluster centers on discussions of the state's or government's monopoly on violence, a concept from political philosophy often attributed to Max Weber, contrasting it with private entities like corporations and debating its implications for power and legitimacy.

📉 Falling 0.3x Politics & Society
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Keywords

US LONG theatlantic.com britannica.com IS NOT SEZ FYI wikipedia.org XIX violence monopoly government state nation force corporation charter nation state coercion

Sample Comments

iamsb Dec 21, 2020 View on HN

Might want to educate yourself on what it means for a state to monopolies violence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence

hellbanner Aug 22, 2017 View on HN

Right, because the State is the entity with a Monopoly on Violencehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence

drewcoo Jan 28, 2023 View on HN

Because the government has a monopoly on violence.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence

hobs Jul 8, 2013 View on HN

Not disagreeing with the meat of your post, but could you say a little bit more about the state not having a monopoly on violence? From what I understand this term is used to explain that the government is the only one who is legally allowed to use violence against other individuals, and is the only one who can grant you that power. And as far as I can tell that IS the case. Thoughts?

pb7 Mar 4, 2024 View on HN

Parent comment used “monopoly on violence” correctly: the government can physically show up to your house and forcibly imprison you or even kill you if you resist hard enough. No one else can (legally).

ofcourseyoudo Jan 12, 2023 View on HN

Government has a monopoly on violence without consequence.

krapp Jan 12, 2023 View on HN

Government is literally defined by a monopoly on violence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_on_violence

refurb Sep 2, 2020 View on HN

It’s the government that holds the monopoly on violence, not the police.

bluntfang Jan 30, 2018 View on HN

government is essentially a monopoly on violence.

mulmen Mar 9, 2023 View on HN

That’s the “monopoly on violence“. The government isn’t equal. They hold the monopoly on violence, until they get so far out of line that the people take it back. The only open question is how to prevent that from happening.