In this chapter, I engage in theory-building, laying the foundations for the Weberian-Foucauldian theory of the state. I argue that, in order to deal with the politics of COVID-19, we need a framework which addresses both the issue of power—a central aspect of the infection control regimes—and the state—as the state is the active part of the pandemic. For this purpose, and based on the aforementioned reflections, I discuss the Foucauldian literature on power, as well as on the state, offering some critical reflections on how the literature, while useful, fails to account for state power and state autonomy. I argue that numerous key elements in the Foucauldian theory, such as the focus upon the microphysics of power or the structuring effects of the state, can be appropriated within an agential, Weberian understanding of the state. Using the concept of the sources of power from Michael Mann, I seek to combine the macrophysical and microphysical approaches to power, which are linked together by the agency of the state. I end the chapter by operationalizing the Weberian-Foucauldian theory, using it to cast light over the politics of plague in the Ottoman Empire and the politics of COVID-19.