Understanding

Culture,
Society and
Politics
LESSON
DEFINITION, FORMS, AND FUNCTIONS OF STATE
Are you familiar with the word State? What is the State? What does
the State do?
State – taken from the Latin stare (to stand) is a political community that
occupies a definite territory, having a government of their own, wherein a
great number of inhabitants render obedience and enjoy freedom from
external control (Social Dynamics, 83).

Aristotle defined the state as a “union of families and villages having

for its end a perfect and self-sufficing life by which it meant a happy and
good life”.

To Woodrow Wilson, “state is a person organized for law within a

definite territory”.

According to Garner, “State is a community of people live in a definite

form of territory free of external control and possessing an organized
government to which people show habitual agreement”.

Which definition is best for you? The state is the most universal and
most powerful of all social institutions. The state is a natural institution.
Aristotle once said that man is a social animal and by nature, he is a
political being. To him, to live in the state and to be a man were identical.

Many countries in the world were known as a great state and the
Philippines, our country, is a good example of a state.

The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty

resides in the people and all government authority emanated from them.
ARTICLE II, SECTION I OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION

The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government

wherein power is equally divided among its three branches: executive,
legislative, and judicial. ... The Legislative branch is authorized to make
laws, alter, and repeal them through the power vested in the Philippine
Congress. The government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens
through this system of check and balance.

Physical bases of the State Political bases of the State

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

ELEMENTS OF THE STATE

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STATE AND SOCIETY

The society consists of a large number of individuals, families, group

and institutions. The early political thinkers considered both state and
society as one. State is a part of society but is not a form of society.

STATE SOCIETY
1. State came into existence after 1. Society is prior to the state.
the origin of the society.
2. The scope of the state is limited. 2. The scope of society is much
wider.
3. The state has power to enforce 3. Society has no power to enforce
laws. laws.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STATE AND NATION
1. POPULATION – it is the people who make the state. Population is essential for
the state. Greek thinkers were of the view that the population should neither be
too big nor too small. But it should be large enough to be self-sufficing and
small enough to be well governed.
2. TERRITORY- there can be no state without a fixed territory. People need
territory to live and organize themselves socially and politically. It may be
remembered that the territory of the state includes land, water and air – space.
Territory is necessary for citizenship.
3. GOVERNMENT – there can be no state without government. It is the working
agency of the state as well as the political organization of the state.
Prof. Appadorai defined government as the agency through which the force of
the State is formulated, expressed, and realized.
4. SOVEREIGNTY – the fourth essential element of the state which means
supreme and final legal authority above and beyond which no legal power
exists.
Sovereignty has two aspects:
1. Internal sovereignty means that the State is supreme over all its citizens,
and associations.
2. External sovereignty means that the State is independent and free from
foreign or outside control
The word “nation” is derived from Latin word “natio” which means birth or race. The
terms nation and state are used as synonym.

STATE
1. Existed not only at present but also
in the ancient period.
2. It is legal political.
3. People organized for law within a
definite territory.
NATION
1. Modern phenomenon or occurrence.
2. It is ethnic cultural.
3. People psychologically joined
together with common will to live
together.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN STATE AND GOVERNMENT

The word government is often used with the ‘state’ as synonym. But both the
government and the state are two different entities.

STATE
1. State consists of population,
territory, government and sovereignty.
2. State is permanent and continues
forever.
3. State possesses original powers.
GOVERNMENT
1. Government is part of a state.
2. Government is temporary it may
come and go.
3. Powers of the government are
derived from the state.

ARISTOTLE’S CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT

Number of Ruler/s Normal Form Perverted Form
One Monarchy Tyranny
Few Aristocracy Oligarchy
Many Polity Democracy
 A government that is governed by one ruler who has efficient administration of
political and economic values is a monarchy. A perverted form of it is tyranny or the
rule of a dictator. Aristotle argued that a tyrant ruler serves only his or her own
interests. This leader is prone to using force to stay in power as he/she merely
usurped it. Monarchs are better leaders as they are not prone to employ force to
subjugate members of the society as they do not feel the pressure to maintain their
position, which they inherited.
Aristotle argued that the rule of the few intellectuals known as aristocracy is the
best form of government. He said that aristocracy is less prone to corruption given
that it is run by a group of people who have no vested self-interest due to their high
moral values and non-economic preoccupation.
The rule of the aristocrats is the ideal but not a possibility, as this group of
people are not inclined toward the practiced of governance due to their preoccupation
with the intellectual and philosophical. Hence, according to Aristotle, the best
alternative for an effective government is the rule of the middle class known as polity.
This type of government is the most efficient, as it is less prone to corruption. This is
due to the rulers who come from the middle class, are satisfied economically, and are
well-educated.
Although well-accepted by current world leaders, democracy was considered by
Aristotle as an ineffective type of government. He said democracy had a potential for
chaos and corruption, given that it is ruled by the masses that are generally
economically challenged and lacking proper education.

FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE

Every state has specific roles and duties that it carries on a daily basis. But do you
know the explicit functions of the state?
1. Protect the Natural Rights
The primary functions of government are to protect the basic human rights which
include right to life, liberty and to possess property. The idea of natural rights is
because every person deserves to enjoy these rights.
2. Defend Against External Enemies
War across nations has been a constant condition since the beginning of civilization.
The government has a responsibility to ensure peace within its borders.
3. Managing Economic Conditions
The modern government has a duty to fight poverty and improve the quality of life of
its citizens. In order to achieve this, the government must create a conducive
environment for material prosperity and economic growth.
4. Redistribution of Income and Resources
Governments should ensure economic pie grows larger to redistribute fruits of
prosperity. The government does this by taxing wealthier people and transferring the
income to different categories of people who are in need of these services.

Other functions of a state are maintaining law, order and stability, resolving
various kinds of disputes through the legal system, looking out for the welfare of the
population in ways that are beyond the means of the individual, such as implementing
public health measures as currently seen in our society , providing mass education
and underwriting expensive medical research.
This global pandemic has been a big challenged to our state and to our
government. Our political leaders are continuously seeking and finding resources to
help the needy citizens in this time of uncertainty caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 1
Directions: Match Column A with Column B. Write the letter of the correct
answer on the space provided.
Column A Column B
_____1. According to Aristotle, this type of A. Prof. Appadorai
government is the most efficient as B. State
it is less prone to corruption. C. Polity
D. Sovereignty
_____2. He defined government as the E. Democracy
agency through which the force of F. Covid-19
the state is formulated, expressed
and realized.
_____3. The global pandemic that gives
uncertainty to the entire nation.
_____4. This was considered the ineffective
type of government and had a
potential for chaos and corruption.
_____5. The most universal and most powerful
of all social institutions.

ACTIVITY 2.
Direction: Identify the words that are being asked from the following statement.
Select the answers from the box below.
1. Function of the state to ensure peace within its borders. _________________
2. A government that is governed by one ruler who has efficient administration
of political and economic values. ________________
3. The Philippines is a ____________ and republican State. _____________
4. According to this leader, “state is a person organized for law within a definite
territory.” _______________
5. Aristotle argued that the rule of the few intellectuals known as __________ is
the best form of government. _________________

A. Monarchy D. Defend against external enemies

B. Aristocracy E. Woodrow Wilson
C. Democratic F. Aristotle

ACTIVITY 3:
VALUING: Filipinos are lovers of freedom and justice as seen in our society, as
to which the best course for the state to adopt to this “new normal”. In this
time of uncertainties, I believe that we should value the good sides and good
characteristics of our Kababayang Pinoy. We should retain being
_______________, _______________, _______________, _______________,
_______________ in the midst of pandemic.