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Coercion and Consent: Studies on the Modern State, by John A. Hall. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press, 1994. 223 pp. NPL cloth. ISBN: 0-7456-1194-X. NPL paper. ISBN: 0-7456-1195-8.
JORGE ARDITI State University of New York, Buffalo
This book begins auspiciously enough with a statement against simple binary oppositions. John A. Hall laments what he sees as a common equation of coercion with the power of a state, and of consent with its weakness, and sets out to show that "societies based on consent can generate great energies, including energies that allow them to coerce with mighty effectiveness" (p. x). The eight essays that compose this volume--five of which have been previously published and variously reworked or the present collection--are intended to provide a more complex understanding of modern states. They cover vast territories: a comparison of the Chinese imperial state and medieval European empires in order to discuss the impact of state forms on the rise of capitalism; the stability of capitalism and the collapse of state socialism; the problems of late development (written with Ding-xin Zhao); the future of democracy (an essay conceived as a response to...