Social Norms and States

As we talked about states and where they derive their power and authority from, something occurred to me. I realized that once a system is in place, especially after a long time, that it is less likely to be challenged and more likely to be followed to some extent and even supported by the population. As people grow up in our society or any society for that matter, they become accustomed to that way of life. It is only really, when people get a taste of something better or have a good situation go bad that they rebel. That being said, the state has alot of room to maneuver and act in its interest. People are raised such as in America, that the state's interests are the same as the people's. This is because their identity of who they are and what they stand for is linked to the territory they occupy and the social norms established by the state.

In America, our social norms include a culture of individualism and freedom. This restricts the state in a large way. However, the state will use this to take action as well. For instance when the state feels threatened it will appeal to the norms of protecting our freedoms for justification of an action. One could argue that this is a sort of propaganda but I would disagree and say that this is a very real part of our identity and when the state feels threatened in this manner the people genuinely feel the same way. This is what allows the state to take such broad action that you wouldn't expect out of a liberal democracy. In a nation like ours however there are still moves that the people would see as clearly violating our social norms. For example, many cities in the United States advocate putting more surveillance cameras in public areas. They want to do this to help manage national security. However, despite this clear and precise reasoning, many Americans feel uncomfortable with this and have voiced their concerns through organizations such as the ACLU. It is not the norm in America to have surveillance everywhere. We have always been afraid of the "Big Brother" government. This is not the case in Great Britain.

I would make the case that each state's power and abilities are limited to the social norms and tradition established by each state respectively. Great Britain has no issue with their extensive public surveillance because people are comfortable with it and see it as a role government should be playing. However in the US, our culture and tradition that make up our social norms make this uncomfortable and people are unwilling to allow the state to pursue this. In countries like North Korea where the norm has been isolation and ignorance, the state gets away with much more because that has been the norm and is expected in that country.