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Sources of Transcendent Credibility and the Boundaries Between Political Units

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Sources of Transcendent Credibility and the Boundaries Between Political Units i UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Frontiers and Borders: Sources of Transcendent Credibility and the Boundaries between Political Units A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science by Rosco Williamson Committee in charge: Professor David Mares, Chair Professor Alan Houston Professor Richard Madsen Professor Victor Magagna Professor Michael Monteon 2007 ii Copyright Rosco Williamson, 2007 All rights reserved iii The dissertation of Rosco Williamson is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2007 iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page...............................................................................................................iii Table of Contents..........................................................................................................iv List of Tables.................................................................................................................vi Vita. ..............................................................................................................................vii Abstract........................................................................................................................viii Chapter 1: Theory..........................................................................................................1 Why Is This Question Worth Asking?................................................................3 Dependent Variable: Boundary Distinctiveness..............................................14 Proposed Explanation.......................................................................................18 Changes in the Number of Sources of Transcendent Credibility.....................27 Chapter 2: Methodology..............................................................................................51 Operationalization.............................................................................................52 Methodology.....................................................................................................64 Implications of the Hypothesis.........................................................................67 Plan of the Dissertation.....................................................................................69 Chapter 3: China: The Sui and T’ang Dynasties.........................................................73 Unification of China under the Sui and T’ang Dynasties (589-700)................75 China and Tibet (620-800)................................................................................99 Chapter 4: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Central Asian Islamic Empires.............122 Fifteenth Century Central Asia.......................................................................124 Sixteenth Century Central Asia.......................................................................142 Chapter 5: Medieval Europe, 400-1000.....................................................................167 iv v Christendom....................................................................................................170 The Carolingian Empire and the Saxons.........................................................182 The Vikings.....................................................................................................203 Chapter 6: The Protestant Reformation, 1517-1565..................................................223 Ideology: A Priesthood of All Believers........................................................224 The Establishment of Lutheranism.................................................................238 The Establishment of Calvinism.....................................................................254 The Catholic Reaction.....................................................................................264 Changing Distinctiveness of Boundaries........................................................269 Chapter 7: The Thirty Years’ War: From God to Proto-Nationalism.......................279 The Significance of the Addition of the Nation..............................................281 The Ideological Development of the Change..................................................302 Richelieu as Innovator of Proto-Nationalism..................................................311 Distinctive Boundaries: The Peace of Westphalia 1648................................323 Chapter 8: The “Westphalian” States System............................................................331 Ideological Foundations of Nationalism.........................................................334 Impact on the Political Boundaries of Europe................................................374 Chapter 9: Implications..............................................................................................384 References...................................................................................................................417 v vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1...........................................................................................................................46 vi vii VITA 1992 Bachelor of Arts, Northwest Nazarene College (Chemistry, History) 1998 Master of Arts, San Diego State University (History) 2000-2003 Teaching Assistant, Department of Political Science University of California, San Diego 2002 Master of Arts, University of California, San Diego (Political Science) 2003-2006 Adjunct Professor of History and Political Science Point Loma Nazarene University 2006-present Assistant Professor of Political Science Point Loma Nazarene University 2007 Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego (Political Science) FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Political Science (International Relations and Political Theory) vii viii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Frontiers and Borders: Sources of Transcendent Credibility and the Boundaries between Political Units by Rosco Williamson Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science University of California, San Diego, 2007 Professor David Mares, Chair Rather than starting with physical form as “state”-centered theories do, a more useful theoretical model should begin with the content of political units. Specifically, this model should examine a crucial element of the content of a political unit, the “source of transcendent credibility,” and analyze the effects this has on the physical form of political units in a given system. Hence, this dissertation hypothesizes that the boundaries between political units in a given system will be relatively more distinctive as the number of sources of viii ix transcendent credibility within that system increases. A source of transcendent credibility is an unseen (transcendent) force that a critical mass of the population in a territory believes to be acting on behalf of and in favor of the “faithful.” To more efficiently and effectively generate compliance from the people, a ruler will link his own credibility to this inherently credible source. Competing sources of transcendent credibility within a system increase the perceived threat to the ruler’s source of efficient compliance generation. The cost-effectiveness of this means of generating compliance creates large incentives for the investment of resources to protect the source’s efficacy. One potential threat arises from the fact that an international rival can improve its’ bargaining power vis-à-vis a ruler by undermining the ruler’s source of transcendent credibility, provided the two rivals rely on different sources of transcendent credibility. Second-tier variables, geopolitics and military capabilities, can exacerbate the perceived threat from an international rival that depends on a different source of transcendent credibility. The dissertation tests this hypothesis using case studies that vary in both time and space: the unification of northern and southern China under the Sui and T’ang, the eighth century rivalry between China and Tibet, the rise of the Shiite Safavid Empire alongside the Sunni Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century, and the European continent from the medieval period to the present. The extended European case examines the dynamic of changing numbers of sources of transcendent credibility in a system and responses to these changes. The conclusion discusses the implications for the future global system and the discipline of Political Science. ix 1 CHAPTER 1: THEORY: THE NUMBER OF SOURCES OF TRANSCENDENT CREDIBILITY AND THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF BOUNDARIES A. Introduction B. Why Is This Question Worth Asking? 1. The International Question 2. The Political Unit Formation Question C. Dependent Variable: Boundary Distinctiveness D. Proposed Explanation 1. Explanatory Variables 2. Effects of Explanatory Variables on Boundary Distinctiveness 3. Resulting Hypothesis E. Changes in the Number of Sources of Transcendent Credibility 1. The Choices Available to Rulers 2. The Impact of Ideas 3. Ruler Responses to Declining Credibility 4. Putting It All Together Introduction Is a “borderless world” an approaching fact or simply wishful thinking?1 Borders
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