Dual Authority Polities

Abstract

In other words, unlike cohesive nation-states,2 polities deeply divided along ethnonational religious or linguistic lines are characterized by noncongruent societal and boundaries that reflect a conflict between two principles of affiliation-'national in sense of nationality and in sense of nationalism.' The territorial boundaries of state borders and criteria for citizenship distinguish clearly between those who belong to a polity and those who do not. In contrast, communal affiliation is at least in part voluntary and permits different degrees of relationship to any degree of which may be adopted as a criterion for membership in community. The duality of national identity and authority structure and noncongruent boundaries of state and community relate to basic conceptual problems of science and sociology.' In context of dual authority and inconsistent collective identity, notions such as the system, sovereignty, and political legitimation in their conventional meaning lose much of explanatory power,5 while issues such as degree of autonomy of politics acquire a new significance.6 Hence an attempt at a new conceptualization may serve as a promising departure point both for an analysis oriented toward theory building and for formulation of empirically testable hypotheses. In this paper a conceptual framework is proposed that, while applicable to a broad spectrum of phenomena, appears to be particularly useful for study of politics in context of dual authority structures in