Modern state (Messenia)
In Messenia, the modern state refers to a number of features and in some studies a distinct model that the different societies of the Cairan north, the Sirian south, and the Siur-Arlaturi west, or at least the most influential and powerful examples thereof, have converged towards in terms of political organisation.
The modern state is understood to be built on two pillars (the 'parkus of modernity'), nowadays closely related but rooted in different developments historically. The first is the state's dedication to its specific civilisation, furthering the overall health of that culture, as well as upholding respective values throughout, as much as through, its activities (e.g. Siur dedication to kvöðin, often by mælishönd, or Sirian pursuit of rationalistically promoting enlightenment and suppressing transgression in society through aphypnism). The state is dominated by an elite known as positors who define themselves first and foremost as guardians and champions of their civilisations, rather than by customary bonds or cynical interests.
The second is a claim to authority and power above and beyond one's natural and customary allegiances, such as family or fealty. In some interpretations this aspect means the modern state is some sort of logically necessary entity that can compel allegiance in its own right, but this is not universally present in political theories of the three cultures. Other readings connect it with rationalised, bureaucratic governance and administration. This pillar is much more relative even where applicable (e.g. modern Siur states are still nominally defined by the strongly negotiable axareiður), and should be understood against customary political systems or smaller polities that dominated Messenian politics after the collapse of the Secote Empire; its roots include the creation of systems bridging those patchwork entities such as the Dordanian Maximilian Corpus, and the rise of munitors whose interests were connected to more powerful states.
'State' modernity remains a disputed idea in Messenian political theory and history. Besides the ideas of politics in each cultural sphere still being quite different, many of the continent's smaller countries descend from medieval polities built on customary and empirical allegiances, and/or do not have a strong positor culture. Thus it has been argued that it can only be applied to the most advanced and powerful of those states such as the Great Powers; in this respect, Savam, Siurskeyti, and Zeppengeran indeed all began administratively as imperial or federal entities, which in turn had a strong connection with the development of civilisational ideology such as the Endurtendrandi that informed their state-building projects.
See also
- Secular law — another area of convergence of Messenian societies
- Three principles of politics and Authority of Knowledge — the idea of a modern state in Vaestism