The state as a convergence of heterogeneous elements: a deep historical approach

The premise of this project is that what we refer to as "the state" is not a unitary entity, but an arbitrary historical convergence of a number of forms and principles of power (sovereignty, heroic aristocracy, administrative bureaucracies, various popular and elite deliberative forms) that have separate historical origins and can exist entirely independently of one another. As a result, history affords endless examples of political entities ("chiefdoms", Mesopotamian temple complexes, Classical "city-states") that are clearly organized around certain principles we associate with states, and are strikingly absent in others.