The Four Functional Pillars of Statecraft
We have covered the 13 structural elements of statecraft. In this article, we examine the four functional pillars of statecraft. This is within the context of the three core elements of statecraft:
1. Structural
2. Functional, and
3. Legitimacy.
The structural and functional elements of statecraft come together to define the legitimacy level of a state or sovereign that leads it. The structural aspects of statecraft include the fairly static institutions, systems, and symbols that represent the state (the nouns). The functional elements of statecraft include the activities, policies, and interactions with the state (the verbs).
The structural and functional elements of statecraft define the legitimacy, power, and authority of the state.
These functional pillars create a frame that an interested professional or analyst can invoke to quickly examine and position a state by applying various essential pointers to evaluate the realities of a state or similar entity. State officials can use it to steer and manage their states to a desired end.
The four functional pillars of statecraft are shown below:
Table 1: The Four Functional Pillars of Statecraft
From the table above, (1) constitutional factors keep a state or similar unit together in a statecraft system. This leads up to (2) internal and (3) international variables. How they are combined to meet the (4) strategic goals of the state entity constitutes the fourth pillar.
Constitutional
Statecraft is incubated by various top-level rules and collective contracts defining the relationship between the rulers and the ruled. This is often viewed as the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land and spells out a state's sovereignty.
Constitutionalism is the process through which different interest groups and power holders maneuver to set and function within the limits of power. In the normal sense, they work with acceptable constitutional processes. In other cases, constitutional crises are conflicts that ultimately culminate in new models and parameters for new constitutional conventions. Typical conflicts include demands of the markets, other economic interests, or military groups against the sovereign state's regulations and standards.
Civil liberties and human rights are fundamental to the citizens' selfhood. This balances the basic rights of individual citizens and their responsibilities to others and the sovereign. The extent to which
Public safety primarily refers to how the sovereign invokes and utilizes legitimate power that individual citizens cede to the state. Thus, security, protection from violence, and justice are elements of public safety that the state must nurture and apply most efficiently and effectively.
Factionalism and power brokering go together. Factionalism refers to how the sovereign maintains synthesis and a balance of power. In democracies, the Constitution creates safeguards and conventions that ensure the balance of power between competing political and militant factions. In absolute monarchies, kings recognize and rule through traditions and standards that are renewed regularly to ensure continuity, relevance, and universal adherence.
Internal
The state's actual functionality is premised on various conventions and institutions that must work to ensure the efficient and balanced existence of the people in their generation and time. This includes essential governmental institutions, the ability to exercise freedom of choice, public finance, and the engagements between different publics in a diverse setting.
Statecraft requires a balance between free markets and governmental planning to achieve the best outcomes possible. Civil society and its organizations must enhance participation and inclusion to ensure that no one is left behind in the national plan or strategy.
Technology refers to the most efficient practices and advanced production systems, and how they are injected defines the efficiency of the people within the realm. The guilds that lead trade also influence the distribution of resources in the state ecosystem and
Also, family and traditional community leaders and systems are important in shaping the people's fundamental culture and mindsets.
International
As identified in the previous article, states today gain their existence through recognition in the family of nations. This is because humanity has evolved to appreciate the importance of cooperation and coexistence through international collaboration and trade.
Thus, the geostrategic position of a country, which is fundamentally premised on the geography and history of a state, is essential. While history and geography are fairly static, they can be leveraged to attain the best results in the future through economic policies and defense/security plans. This determines the potential of a country at any point in time.
The next international element of interest is the state's comparative advantage in the global or regional context. This is mainly driven by excess production and specialization to boost exports. On the other hand, a country may be forced to import because it may lack adequate capabilities to produce some of its needs. Therefore, a country's net exports give it the very essence of what it has.
Transnational position and material resource import and export shape a state's realities and future potential, thereby determining some of the most important factors in statecraft.
Strategic
Security and survival are a country's core goals. While international law and constitutional practices are so advanced that we take security and survival for granted, security means everything in statecraft. If a state loses out on security, it fails to exist.
Security and survival are strongly dependent on intelligence and its gathering. Thus, the mechanism of collecting and analyzing relevant information is vital. This will require a stable mechanism of monitoring vital issues and providing important remedies to deal with issues as they unfold. This requires an emergent strategy responsive to the unfolding issues as and when they arise.
Hard power requires investments in military and economic affairs to ensure a country's ability to use them as and when necessary.
Soft power relates to the development of attraction and influence. This is premised on building assets and relationships that can be invoked to get people to do what the state wants.
Finally, smart power refers to a targeted move toward attaining goals in statecraft. This involves the judicious application of hard and soft power to attain specific targets and goals within predetermined limits.
Conclusion
Statecraft's four functional pillars are simple but conceptually rich in determining the relevant circumstances that shape the present and future of a state or similar entity. They involve the constitutional, internal, international, and strategic elements that determine the state's survival, functionality, and steering into a desired state.