Diana Bang's ETEC 531 e-portfolio

According to Murphie and Potts (2003) the state is operational, it has fixed borders and laws that people follow. It is an entity to which one belongs whether one likes it or not. The state is a pragmatic entity a set of functions (borders, laws, armies, police, education systems, taxes, regulation of industry, the protection of copyright, etc).

Advances in technologies have enabled the state’s functions to monitor and act as a governing surveillance system that tracks movement of individuals and products (i.e. from passports and other paperwork to networked computing, satellites, airplanes, etc). The adoption of widespread technologies has also enabled the state to maintain electronic records of its citizens within the state and to communicate with neighbouring counties about these issues. For example, in healthcare there is the development and use of electronic health records so that clinicians can have immediate access to a person’s health history and any medications they may be on which is linked to their government-issued health card. The state also regulates and dictates operations within the boundaries of their borders (and sometimes even beyond i.e. the U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.) with roads, railways, and other infrastructure.