Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira

Notas para alunos da Fundação Getulio Vargas, publicada apenas neste site.

This is an introductory note defining the nation and civil society, the state and the nation-state, in the context of modern or capitalist societies. The Capitalist Revolution gave origin to the modern nation-state - the political-territorial unity that today covers the whole surface of the globe. Previously, the main political-territorial unity was the empire. While the social agents in the empires were oligarchies charging taxes from their colonies, the nation-state has its nation or civil society as main agent, and the state as the fundamental instrument to achieve its political objectives security, growth, freedom, social justice and protection of the environment.