Concept of the State

Chapter 6 Concept of the State

The term ‘state’ drawn from the word ‘status’ was for the first time used by ‘Teutons’

(The term “Teutons” historically refers to a Germanic tribe that lived in Northern Europe during ancient times. They were one of the many tribes that played a role in the migration and settlement patterns of early European history.)

Nature and Significance of State

Concept of the state has figured as the central theme of traditional political theory.
R.G. Gettal (Political Science, 1949) defined political science as ‘the science of the state’.

R.G. Gettal was an American Political Professor and Football Coach.

J.W. Garner (Political Science and Government, 1928) claims that political science begins and ends with the state.

James Wilford Garner (1871-1938) was a professor of Political Science at university of Pennsylvania and at University of Illionois. Also lecturer at University of Culcutta (1922).
He edited Essays on Southern History and Politics (1914).

Some exponents of behavioural approach in political science have even suggested abandoning the concept of the state altogether. Their main objection is that this concept does not help in understanding political reality or the political process, because: –

The term ‘state’ refers to a formal concept while real politics transcends the formal organization of the state.
The ‘state’ is usually conceived in terms of the ‘ends’ of the state which drags us to the realm of moral philosophy, far removed from the real world of politics.
The concept of the state postulates a particular type of organization which excludes idea of ‘Pre-State’ societies and ‘stateless’ societies.

This leads to the assumption that political organization is not a universal phenomenon.

The terms ‘slave-owning state’, ‘Feudal State’, ‘Capitalist State’, ‘Socialist/Communist State’, ‘Pre-State Society’ and ‘Stateless Society’ are the current coins of Marxist Political Theory.

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.

Population
Territory
Government
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:

Interdependence
Consciousness of Common Interest
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.

State & Society

State sometimes used synonymously with society.
State – Society politically organised.

Society – Social Relationships
State – Political Relationships

When society took form of a nation, is coincide with the state, thus Indian Society and Indian State refer to the association of the same set of persons. This is not always the case as social relationships can have beyond the boundary.
There can be a society, without a state.
Society chooses pattern of its political grouping.
Men can live without a state but not without society, i.e., why man is described as a social animal by nature.
State depends on society for its existence but not the vice-versa.

State and Civil Society

Originally, both words used coterminous.
First – Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) – used the term civil society in the sense of state.
John Locke (1632-1704) -> Equated civil society with political society -> when people relinquish the state of nature and set up a government for the protection of their natural right to ‘life’, liberty and property, they enter into civil society.
Jean –Jaques Rousseau (1712-78) also treated both word coterminous.

State of Nature – The hypothetical condition in which people live before the formation of the state.
Civil Society – Structures of legitimation
Political Society – Structures of Coercion
Together they form structures of domination

State and Government

Government is the element of the state.
State is represented by the government.
Government exercises all authority on behalf of state.
State represents a wider and more stable entity than government.
R.M. Maclver (The web of Government, 1956) has elucidate – when we speak of the state, we mean the organization of which government is administrative organ.
Liberal democratic theory, treats state as the product of the, will of society, an instrument of conflict resolution and of securing the common interest.
Marxist theory treats government as agency of the state.

State and Nation

The modern states usually takes the form of a nation-state.
Frontiers of State – National Frontiers.
Interest of State – National Interest.
Relation between different state – Internation Relations.

Rise and Growth of Modern Nation-State

Sociologists have identified the following forms of state in the course of its historical evolution – the tribal state, oriental empire, Greek City-State, Roman World Empire, the feudal state, modern nation state.
Tribal state is described as Pre-State Society by Engels.
Oriental Empire – Indus Valley Civilization, Mesopotamia, Chinses Civilisation etc.

Greek City-State: –

Europe is a peninsula where land is broken by the sea into small units permitting communication, but making invasion from Asia difficult in those days.
The peculiar location of Greece led to the evolution of a new form of political organization in the ancient days.
The mountains and sea divided this area into numerous valleys and islands.
Small size of the state provided for close relations between government and citizens.
Prominent city states – Athens, Sparta, Orinth, Argos, Thebes and Attica.
Sparta is known for its perfect discipline while Athens provided an ideal platform for direct democracy.
Modern Nation State – 19th century Europe is characterized by a strange paradox –> a nation – state with liberty, equality and rule of law at home and imperialistic exploitation abroad.

Extra: -

(Other than Book)

Stuart Mcphail Hall, said that “State is a community permanently established for a political end.
Laski – State is a territorial society divided into government and the subjects.
Widrow Wilson – State is a people organised for law within a definite territory.
Dugurt said that – state has been defined as ‘human society with political differentiations existing in it between the governed and the governors.
David Easton – In modern times inter-disciplinary approach is used to study state.
Barker – stated nation is a body of men who cherish a common will and tend to have a separate state.
James Bryce – Nation is a nationality which has organised itself into a political body desiring to be independent.
Marxist – State is a power system.
Individualist – state is a necessary evil.
Anarchists – State is an unmitigated evil.
Anderson & Parker – A state is that agency in a society that is authorised to exercise coercive control within a territory.
Louis XIV of France said that – I’m the state.
Plato – first propounded ‘Organic theory of State’.
A.D. Lindsay – state is a society of societies.

Aristotle on State

States is Expansion of family.
A man who lives outside the polis is either a beast or a god.
State comes into existence for the sake of life and continues for the sake of good life.
Defined state as ‘ a union of families and villages having for its end a perfect and self-sufficient life by which we mean a happy and honourable life.
State is prior to the individual just as a whole is prior to its parts
State is a political Association.