After World War II,the theory of the state declined,and the state became a marginal concept in political research.It was not until the 1980s that "back to state"school called for "Bring the State Back in".After that,the upsurge of research on state autonomy and state capacity was revived.In this upsurge,Migdal reconsidered and responded to the "state-centrism" orientation,adopted a more balanced perspective of"State in Society",and so that repositioned the study of state in the social context.Migdal’s theory of state originated from his keen insight and reflection on reality.During his college years,he witnessed the anti-war movement in the American society during the Vietnam War,and during his teaching in Israel,he also witnessed the social chaos under the image of a powerful state.All these made him perceive the influence of social forces that cannot be underestimated,thus he began to reflect on the dominant relationship between the state and society.In terms of theoretical origin,Migdal’s theory of state is ecclesiastical,and creatively absorbs and integrates the theoretical elements of Samuel Phillips Huntington,Max Weber,Edward Shils and other masters.“State in Society" is the core analytical framework of Migdal’s state theory.First,as a conceptual basis,Migdal redefined the state and society,constructed the twodimensional state in concept and practice,described the "hodgepodge",mixture of social institutions,and broke through the research path that the state and society were regarded as a unified entity.Secondly,Migdal focuses on the junction between state and society,shows the interaction between different parts of state and society at different levels and its results,and on this basis expounds the position of limited state.Migdal applies the analytical approach of“State in Society",in the two subject areas of "national identity" and "policy implementation".In the topic of ’"national identity",Migdal discusses how inefficient states maintain the "unified concept",of the state in the construction of meaning.In the topic of "policy implementation",Migdal discusses how the power of the state is dissolved in the contact with the society in the practice of policy.Migdal’s theory of the state has contributed a lot.Among them,the most prominent contribution is the development of the position of "limited state",which reveals the influence of social structure on state capacity.However,in the analytical framework of"State in Society",Migdal only pays attention to the zero-sum game between state and society,ignoring the possibility of positive sum game between them.It also has some shortcomings as an analytical tool.As far as theory is concerned,Migdal’s methodology has many inspirations for the development of Chinese politics.As far as practice is concerned,Migdal’s theory of state has guiding significance for China to shape national identity,carry out policy,balance state intervention and social autonomy,and strengthen national governance ability. |