Univeriti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)

FACULTY OF SCIENCE ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC

POLICY

POLITICAL SCIENCE (PAD 120)

SUMMARY 1: CHAPTER 3

PREPARED FOR:

PREPARED BY:

SUMMARY 1: CHAPTER 3

THE STATE
 Based on this chapter, I understand that the meaning of the state in Political Science. In this
chapter the definition of the state is an association of people who live together within
geographical area under an organised government and subject to no outside control. From the
definition it stated the four elements which is the population, Territory, Government and
Sovereignty. Without these four elements then the state is incomplete

First elements of state are the population. Population is the rational inhabitants of a state bind
by law, living together for the purpose of mobilizing a polity. In population, the people have
different ethnicity, religions, and languages but of one. Nationally constitute a population of a
state. Nationality is acquired through administrative acting by naturalization or birth.
Population should be a series of families which means it started from a series of families and
then become a community, after that become a society and lastly become as a state. There is
no minimum or maximum requirement is set for size of a population. However, some country
such as China does strict population growth due to their economy. While such as Malaysia,
need more growth of population to run the economy. Next elements of state are government is
the executive branch of the state and has the main role to administer the state. It also machinery
of the state through which the will of the people is formulated expressed and carried out.
Indeed, the government has the monopoly of regulating the use of force and the act of
government are likewise the acts of peace. Basically, authority of the state exercise by the
government, function of state performs by the government and law of the state made by the
government. Without government, the state will be mess and not be function well. So, the
government responsible to maintaining law and order, provide services such as defence, issues
of currency, transportation, education, health care and many more but the most important basic
need such as food, water and shelter.

However, people nowadays always confuse between the nation and the state because people
always use those two as a same synonym. For example, “Asian nations “it stated nations but it
means as a States. Some of the major differences between state and nation which is the first
one element of state and nation are different. The elements of state known as population,
territory, sovereignty and government. A state is always characterised by all these four
elements. Besides that, a nation is a group of people who have a strong sense of unity and
common consciousness such as common territory, common race and common religion. The
elements which go to build a nation keep on changing. Indeed, the nation is more stable than
the state. When sovereignty ends, the state dies but not the nation. A nation can survive even
without sovereignty.
 In conclusion, without these four essential elements of a state. A state can be a state only when
it has all these elements. From these four elements, sovereignty stands accepted as the most
important and exclusive element of a state.