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FROM IMPERIAL SUZERAINTY TO ABSOLUTIST SOVEREIGNTY: THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATE SYSTEM IN THE HOLY ROMAN AND
OTTOMAN EMPIRES
by
Mehmet Sinan Birdal
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS)
December 2008
Copyright 2008 Mehmet Sinan Birdal
Object Description
| Title | From imperial suzerainty to absolutist sovereignty: the transformation of the state system in the Holy Roman and Ottoman empires |
| Author | Birdal, Mehmet Sinan |
| Author email | mbirdal@usc.edu; sinanbirdal@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | International Relations |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-05-29 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-11-25 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Tickner, Judith Ann |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Brand, Laurie A. Kuran, Timur |
| Abstract | Two prevailing approaches in international relations neo-realism and constructivism emphasize the role of material capabilities or ideas in the systemic change. Alternatively, this dissertation focuses on the change and the persistence of domestic institutions of states that turn material and ideational capabilities into power in the state system. It introduces the sociological theories of early modern state formation and neo-institutional economics, to study the adaptation process of medieval empires to the modern state system characterized by the absolutist sovereign territorial states. In this context, it selects the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries as comparative case studies. It investigates the adaptation of the two empires to the survival imperatives of the state system in four domains: administration, taxation, conduct of foreign policy and political legitimation. The institutional persistence of the universal empire as a model made it harder for both states to adapt to the modern state system based on the mutual recognition of sovereignty. However, the differences in the organizational principles embodied in political institutions and the legitimating principles expressed in legal discourse led to a divergence in the evolution in both states. The survival imperatives of the state system exacerbated the waning of central political authority in the Holy Roman Empire and led to the emergence of various territorial states including the Habsburg absolutist state which became one of the great powers in the 18th and 19th centuries. In contrast, the Ottoman Empire was far more centralized than any of the 16th century European states. However, strong imperial institutions made it harder for the Ottomans to adapt to the state system. Facing the challenges of the territorial state as the dominant unit of the state system the Ottoman Empire failed to reform its political institutions in order to increase its competitiveness. |
| Keyword | international relations theory; historical sociology; historical institutionalism; state formation; Holy Roman empire; Ottoman empire |
| Geographic subject | political areas: Holy Roman empire; political areas: Ottoman empire |
| Coverage date | 1500/1700 |
| Coverage era | Sixteenth Century; Seventeenth Century |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1826 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Birdal, Mehmet Sinan |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Sinan-2553 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Sinan-2553.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | FROM IMPERIAL SUZERAINTY TO ABSOLUTIST SOVEREIGNTY: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATE SYSTEM IN THE HOLY ROMAN AND OTTOMAN EMPIRES by Mehmet Sinan Birdal A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS) December 2008 Copyright 2008 Mehmet Sinan Birdal |
