What Is State?
The word state has been derived from a Latin word “Status” which literally means condition — situation or circumstances. Many political thinker have defined state in a different way. So, there is not a single undisputed definition of state. State can be defined as a large organization of people which has a defined geographical area and the objective of state is to fulfill the needs of inhabitant or citizens. Moreover, the structure of modern state differ from traditional or ancient state though, the basic or essential elements of state remain the same. Whether, the state is modern or ancient it comprises of people, defined territory and regulatory authority or government. When people live in a territory which has defined boundaries and has a government that regulate the behavior of individuals (assign people different status and duties) through enforcing formal established norms.
Definitions of State
Let us look at some definitions of state provided by different distinguished political thinkers.
“Aristotle” was a great ancient Greek philosopher who viewed state as an organized group formed of different families and villages — whereby the objective of state is to facilitate the different needs of people in order set up a good and free lives for inhabitants. According to Burgees, state is an organization formed by assembly of people. Moreover, Holland defined state as a collection of men within special or defined area whereby, majority opinion is esteemed more than morality. Another prominent political scientist Lasky defined state as a regional social organization that has ruler, established norms and complete control over its region and regional organizations.
Essential Elements of State
The above definitions provided by ancient and modern political thinkers, specify four essential elements of state including, Population (people), Territory, Government and sovereignty.
Population
Population is the first and most essential element for the existence of any state. Whether the state is ancient or modern it physical existence depend on the groups of people. Population can be categorized into two type citizen and non-citizens. Citizens are refer to the group of people who are locals and have been granted political and social rights within a state. Whereas, non-citizens refer to the group of people who are not locals and come from foreign states for various reasons such as, education, job etc… these foreigners have been granted social rights but not political rights by the state.
The citizens of ancient Greece were known as servants. These Servants were the only group of people with in ancient Greek state. Servants were the ancient Greece citizens but they have not been grated social and political rights. Therefore, they were not allowed to take part in state politics. In modern state however, all citizens have equal rights except foreigners. Citizens can participate in politics whereas foreigners are not allowed to do so.
Moreover, modern research suggest that state progress depend on quality of population rather than quantity of population. The rate of population does not have effect on the progress of state however, rate of skilled or unskilled population effect the progress of state. If a state has large population with high rate of unskilled population is less likely to make progress. Whereas, if the state has large population with high rate of skilled labor is most likely to make progress.
Territory
Territory is another major element for the existence of state. Population with undefined or unspecified area cannot be called a state. Similar to population, territory is also an important element for the existence of state for instance, until twentieth century no one was ready to recognize the physical existence of Jews because they did not had defined geographical area but now their geographical area is specified or defined therefore they are recognized as a nation with physical existence.
The specified boundaries of state could contain a vast or small area. Rousseau a prominent political thinker was of the view that state should have small specified area because it is easy to control and administer small state. The government of small state can easily manage to preserve the well-being and freedom of people. Whereas, Alfarabi another political thinker was also in the favor of small state, there are many historic example which explains negative consequence of state territory expansion such as, the fall of Roman and Persian Empire.
Government
Government is a vital element of state and the existence of government and state depend on one another. Government cannot exist without state and state cannot exist without government, the survival of both depend on one another. Government role is to run the affairs of state such as formulate laws, enforce laws and fulfill the needs of citizens. Whereas, population obligation is to conform to the laws formulated and enforced by the government. There are three branches of government including, legislature, judiciary and executive. These three major organs of government carry out the regulatory activities within a state. The role of legislature is to formulate formal written law of state. Whereas, the duty of executive branch is to enforce the state laws. The third organ of government is Judiciary, which is obligated to interpret the state laws.
Forms or Types of Government
There are seven distinguished forms or types of government such as, Democracy (presidential and parliamentary) republic, communism, autocracy, oligarchy, theocracy and fascism.
Democracy refers to the type of government which is formed or elected by majority of people through voting.
Republic is the type of government whereby, people choose their representative who further make decisions on behalf of people and form a government.
Communism is the form of government whereby all people have equal social status. In communist state people cannot own private property. All the resources belong to the state which are invested to protect the interest of people. The head of state is choose from a single political party based on specific criteria.
Autocracy refers to the type of government in which state is ruled by one person and he makes all the decisions for people.
Oligarchy refers to the form of government in which state is ruled by a group of people with high social status, these group of elites make all the decisions for people.
Theocracy is the form of government whereby, people are ruled by esteemed religious figures of state. Moreover, theocratic state is regulated through religious norms (laws of God) which are interpreted by religious leaders or figures. These religious leaders make decisions for the people in accordance to religious norms.
Fascism is the form of government whereby ruler is only elected from a single political party and the objective of this political party is to protect the interest of people belong to specific cast, creed, ethnicity and color.
Sovereignty
Sovereignty refers to the authority of state over its citizens, resources and organizations. State enforce laws and negative sanctions on people therefore it has supremacy over people. Laws are code of conduct for citizens through which state control the behavior of citizens. People are supposed to conform to the state laws otherwise they would face negative sanctions such as, corporal punishments or incarceration. Moreover, established state organization also have to conform to the state laws and conduct their business in accordance with laws otherwise these organization too could be subjected to negative sanctions. The resources within the specified area belong to the state foreign forces could not claim or extract these resources. State is free from any type of external pressure and free to make its own polices.
Written by; Khushdil Khan Kasi
