A striking feature of weak states is that they face very few Essay

A striking feature of weak states is that they face very few challenges from the people living in them. Why do weak states persist - Essay Example Research and analysis revel that the major contributor of weak states’ persistence is international support and assistance. Political scientists’ perception about the concept of state relies on Max Weber’s definition which entitles state as a corporate group that: holds a certain jurisdiction; practices continuous organization; maintains monopoly of power over territory and its population, in addition to all activities in its jurisdiction. The concept is primarily based on empirical and de facto aspects of statehood. The test for Weber’s state is the claim to monopoly of force in its jurisdiction. It implies that if an internal or external group or organization gets the hold and monopolistic control of a certain jurisdiction, it becomes a state. When there are several groups contesting for the same territory, and none can get control over and practice monopolistic force, Weber attributes this situation as â€Å"statelessness† (qtd. in Jackson and Carl 2-3). According to Weber’s empirical approach to statehood, many African states can be disqualified from the status of being a state because they don’t practice monopoly of force over their territorial jurisdiction. Rivals to the national government effectively established monopoly in some of the cases. Absence of continuous control of a permanent political organization and anarchy exist in these states. Regardless of the lacking governmental control, anarchy, and uncertainty, these states persist as members of international society of states. If we consider that the empirical statehood led to the persistence of state, some of the African states must disqualify. However, they persist and none of the claimant governments who practiced de facto control could establish new states in the particular area (Jackson and Carl 3). States definition that is based on juridical attributes of statehood is Ian Brownlie’s. He defines state as a legal person authorized by international law.