Meaning of the State

• Some sort of political organization existed since ancient times, such as greek city-states and the Roman Empire, yet the concept of the ‘state’ as such is comparatively modern. 
• The contemporary concept of the ‘state’ owes its origin to Machiavelli (1469-1527), an Italian philosopher, who expressed this idea in early Sixteenth Century as ‘the power which has authority over men’ (The Prince, 1513). This was an important idea because it describes the nature of the state, not the end of the state which was a question of political philosophy rather than political sociology or political science. 

Machiavelli is called the father of Modern Philosophy & Political Science. He claimed, politics have always been played with deception, treachery & Crime. 

He said that, if a ruler establishing his kingdom or a republic, and is criticized for his deeds including violence, he should be forgiven if results are beneficial to him. 

Leo Strauss criticised Machiavelli as a ‘teacher of evil’. 

Machiavelli another work “The Discourse of Livy” (1517) been said to have paved the way of modern republicanism. His works were a major influence on Enlightenment authors who revived interest in classical republicanism, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and James Harrington. Machiavelli’s political realism has continued to influence generations of academics and politicians, including Hannah Arendt and Otto von Bismarck. 

• Max Weber (Sociologist) – “A state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. 
• R.M Maclver an American Sociologist, in his famous work The modern State (1926), sought to distinguish the state from other kinds of associations in that it embraces the whole of people in a specific territory, and it has the special function of maintaining social order. It performs this function through its agent, the government ‘which speaks with the voice of Law’. 
• R.M. Maclver & C.H Page (Society: A introductory Analysis; 1950) observed: “The state is distinguished from all other associations by its exclusive investment with the final power of coercion.” Also, Harold J. Laski in “An Introduction to Politics (1931) similarly observed. 

Association – “A human organization formed for the fulfilment of certain common objectives of its members which motivate them to come together, and work together. 

• Fredrick M. Watkins – “defines state as ‘ a geographically delimited segment of human society united by common obedience to a single sovereign.” 
• Geoffrey K. Roberts (A dictionary of Political analysis, 1971) – A territorial area in which the population is governed by a set of political authorities. 

Elements of State

The concept of element of state was given by Garner. 

1. Population 
2. Territory 
3. Government 
4. Sovereignty 

Population

• The State is a human institution, so population is required. 
• Population can constitute a state only when it is united by condition of: 

1. Interdependence 
2. Consciousness of Common Interest 
3. General regard for a set of common rules of behaviour and institutions. 

• Economic self-sufficiency is essential for the stability of a state. 
• Need not belong to a single race, religion, language or culture. 

Territory

• Other organisations don’t need territory, they can extend their sphere to several territory. 
• A state comes into existence only when its population is settled in a fixed territory. 
• Fredrich Engels, in his work the origin of the family, private property and the state (1884) – formation of a state is accompanied by a division of population according to territory. 
• John Seeley (1834-95) – held that a fixed territory is not an essential aspect of a state. Nomadic tribes who do not possess fixed territory do constitute a state but this view no longer valid as the tribes do not have institutions. 
• Territory includes – Land, Water and Airspace. 
• Territory embodies the sphere of Sovereignty of the state. 
• Sometimes territories are demarcated mainly on a political basis rather than a geographical basis. 
• Reallocation of territories – bring about merger or alteration of the existing states or emergence of new states.  

Government

• J.W. Garner (Political Science & Government, 1928) – Government is the agency or machinery through which common policies are determined and by which common affairs are regulated and common interests promoted. 
• If the state Represents an abstract concept, government is its concrete form. 

Abstract – Existing only as an idea, not as a physical things. 

Concrete – real or definite, not only existing in the imagination. 

• Authority, function, law making, justice etc. of the State is exercised by the government. 
• Government organ – Legislative, Executive, Judiciary. 
• Government and state should not be treated as co-terminus, Government may rise and fall without disturbing identity of state. 
• A state will loose its identity if it is suppressed by an alien power. 
• When people loose right to have a government, it is a colony now.  

Sovereignty

• Denotes the supreme or ultimate power of the state to make laws or take political decisions. 
• If State loosed sovereignty – either by internal revolt or by external aggression leads to the situation of anarchy and disappearance of the state. 

Anarchy – A situation in which people do not obey rules and laws. A situation there is a no government in a country. 

• Some writers regard ‘international recognition’ as an essential element of the state. 
• International recognition is a outcome of the sovereignty of the state, not a condition of its existence.