Author: Haroon Khalil

Laski’s rejection of sovereignty and absolutist state begins with the criticism of the monist theory of sovereignty. He employs three grounds for refuting monist concept of sovereignty and these do not necessarily involve pluralistic arguments. His criticism is based on three grounds—historical, legal and political. In his Grammar of Politics and Foundations of Sovereignty, Laski provides refutations of…

The pluralist position of Professor Laski of the London School of Economics and Political Science is found in his various writings. He has waged a multi-sided attack on the concept of sovereignty of the State. However, he is also the one who subsequently reconsidered his position on the State and has shown a shift from…

Hobbes, Austin and others talk about sovereign authority of the State. Underlying principle in this is that power is an important ingredient of the State. However, MacIver holds that power in itself has no meaning for the State unless it is lawful. He says, ‘in the last resort force can be entrusted to the State,…

MacIver declares that conception of unlimited sovereignty is ‘dangerously false’. He rejects the concept of legal sovereignty as propounded by Austin. The monist concept of sovereignty derives it force from the formulation that sovereign is the source of all law and is omnipotent. Since sovereignty is characteristic of the state, it is also all-powerful. We…

From this primacy of society and social needs of human beings, flows another logical argument that supports the pluralist’s view. MacIver asserted that social forms like families or churches or clubs, owe neither their origin nor their sustenance to the State. For him, associations in society serve different interests of human beings and that include…

The general tendency of MacIver’s views on state-society relationship suggests that he is critical of the idealist political thinkers like Plato, Rousseau, Hegel, Bosanquet, who do not differentiate between the two. In his The Modern State, MacIver terms as ‘grossest of all confusions’ to identify the social with the political.49 For MacIver, society is prior to the…

Ideas and formulations of Gierke and Maitland (doctrine of real personality), William James (multi-verse and plurality of ideas), Durkheim and Boncour (professional and occupational associations), Bentley (interest groups) have in one way or the other influenced the pluralist criticism of the monist theory of sovereignty. A brief survey of the views and writings of the exponents of political pluralism may help us understand…

From our survey of the underlying principles of political pluralism, we can identify various basis on which the pluralists have attacked and criticized the theory of sovereignty in general and the monist theory of sovereignty in particular. These include historical, social, economic, legal, political, philosophical and international bases.21 Historical basis: Pluralism finds a parallel in the…

Pluralists maintain that as far as international law is concerned, state is not legally unlimited in its external relations to other states. Further, internationalism and international organizations having allegiance reaching beyond the limits of the State are also discernable. Hugo Krabbe (The Modern Idea of the State) tends to extend his idea ot law as outcome of the…

As a logical fallout of their argument for existence of multiple interests in society, pluralist thinkers advocate decentralization of authority. Developments in the field of political federalism add yet another dimension in the pluralistic arguments for federal nature of authority. Writers like Sidney and Beatrice Webb, G. D. H. Cole and H. J. Laski have…