The New State · Question
How does The New State develop the theme of The Unifying State vs. Political Pluralism?
Answer
The New State by Mary Parker Follett develops The Unifying State vs. Political Pluralism across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
While engaging with pluralist ideas, the author champions a 'unifying state' that does not absorb groups but integrates them, creating a whole where multiple loyalties (to family, trade union, nation) are compounded into a single, coherent allegiance.
The chapter's emphasis on law as a product of community life and the interdependence of state and law touches on the tension between unifying state authority and pluralistic group recognition.
The chapter argues for a unified state that expresses the collective will, dissolving the dualism between individual and state.
Democracy is described as a centripetal force that draws together, creating wholes and a single life, opposing centrifugal tendencies and emphasizing unity through reciprocal relations.
Evidence in the book
- From Contract to Community
The chapter's emphasis on law as a product of community life and the interdependence of state and law touches on the tension between unifying state authority and pluralistic group recognition.
- XVI: Democracy Not “Liberty” and “Equality”: Our Political Dualism
The chapter argues for a unified state that expresses the collective will, dissolving the dualism between individual and state.
- XIX: The True Democracy
Democracy is described as a centripetal force that draws together, creating wholes and a single life, opposing centrifugal tendencies and emphasizing unity through reciprocal relations.
- XXVII: From Neighborhood to Nation: The Unifying State
The chapter rejects mechanical federalism and medieval mediate articulation, insisting on direct individual relation to the state while building from groups.
- XXVIII: Political Pluralism
The chapter directly contrasts the unifying state with pluralist theories, arguing that pluralism's weaknesses must be corrected to achieve true federalism.
- XXIX: Political Pluralism and Sovereignty
The chapter contrasts static pluralism with a unifying state that emerges from the bottom-up through group interpenetration, rejecting both absolute monism and fragmented pluralism.
- Political Pluralism and the True Federal State
The central theme contrasts pluralist theories (divided sovereignty, balance of power) with the true monistic state that unifies diversity.
- XXXII: Political Pluralism (Concluded)
The chapter contrasts pluralist fears of an absorptive monistic state with the ideal of a unifying state that is all-inclusive, not all-absorptive, and integrates multiple allegiances.
