STATE

MEANING, DEFINITION &

ELEMENTS
 NEED FOR A STATE
• Man did not possess reason, family and property.
• He could not differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong and mine and
thine.
• Slowly and gradually the evolutionary process resulted in the development of
reason which subsequently led to the origin of institution of family and property.
• The dictum of might is right prevailed which led to utter chaos and disharmony.
• This necessitated the origin of a supreme organization i.e. State which possesses
supreme power(Sovereignty) to regulate the life of man and his fellow beings.
 Etymological meaning of the word
‘State’
• The word ‘State’ has been derived from the latin language word ‘status’
which means ‘of the highest level’
• Hence state possesses the highest status as compared to other
organizations.
 First time use of the word ‘State’
• Machiavelli used the term ‘state’ for the first time in his book ‘the Prince’
when he said that- ‘All those powers which had and have authority over
men are states.’
 Wrong use of the word ‘State’
It is wrongly used in the following ways :
• When used for a province, nation, government, society.
• When used to denote the units of federation such as state of California,
state of Punjab, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh etc.
 Definitions of State
• Aristotle defines state as ‘a union of families and villages having for its
end a perfect and self sufficing life by which we mean a happy and
honorable life.’
• Garner defines state ‘as a community of persons, more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, independent or
nearly so, of external control and possessing an organized government to
which greater body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.’
 Elements of a State

• Essential Elements
• Non-essential Elements
 ELEMENTS OF A STATE

Essential
elements

Governmen
Population Territory Sovereignty
t
 Population as an element of State
• Just as a river cannot be imagined without water, a jungle without its flora and fauna, a
state cannot be imagined without its human element of population.
• Size of population
- Divergent views of political scientists
- Ancient philosophers like Plato fixed the size of an ideal state at 5040
- Rousseau fixed the size at 10,000
- States with small population co exist with largely populated states such as Vatican City at
801, Nauru at 11,000, Monaco at 38,000, China at 143 crores and India at 138 crores
 Population as an Element of State
Composition of Population
1. Citizens :They actively participate in administrative affairs and have
civil and political rights.
2. Subjects: They don’t participate in the affairs of the state and just obey
its orders. Children, insane people and convicts are subjects
3. Aliens: They are foreigners who come with a purpose of excursion,
education, trade etc. they have only civil rights.
 Population as an element of State
• Many thinkers contest that the population of a state should be
homogenous i.e. people should have one common racial descent, religion,
language and should practice common customs and traditions because
heterogenous population will be difficult to unite.
• But homogeneity is impractical and impossible in the modern world
 Population as an Element of State
• Character of the population : people living in a state should be healthy,
hardworking, honest, moral, happy, truthful. In short they should be an
asset to the state.
 Territory as an Element of the State
• The human element of population requires a fixed portion of territory to
live
• Composition of Fixed territory
-land
-Airspace above
-12 Nautical miles from the sea coast
 Territory as an element of the State
Size of the Territory :Around the globe we have states with both large and
small territories. States like Russia, Canada, China, USA, Brazil, Australia
have large territories where as states like Nauru, Monaco, Tuvalu, San
Marino have small territories. Vatican City is the smallest state in the world
measuring 0.44 Km square miles.
 Territory as an element of the State
• Boundaries of Territory : the territory of a state can have natural, man
made boundaries or both.
• Natural boundaries with rivers and mountains are considered better since
they reduce the chances of conflict between two states. Where as the
artificial boundaries lead to conflicts . For eg India and China are
separated by LAC (line of actual control). The Radcliffe line demarcates
India from Pakistan. One is witness to the controversies and conflicts
between India and China due to the artificial demarcation between both
 Government as an Element of the state
• What is a Government ?
• A government is an organized machinery of the state via which its will is executed.
• All governments perform the following basic functions
-to maintain law and order in the state
-to allocate goods and services to its people
-to defend its territory
-to deliver justice to its people
 Government as an Element of the state
• Organs of Government
• Legislature-it makes Laws. Eg: American Congress, British Parliament, . Indian Parliament
• Executive-it executes Laws.eg US President, council of ministers headed by the PM in India
• Judiciary-it interprets Laws. Eg: Single integrated Judicial system in India

Types of Government
• These can be parliamentary or presidential, unitary or Federal, Democratic or Dictatorship,
Monarchial or Republic.
 Sovereignty as an Element of State
• The word ‘Sovereignty comes from the Latin language word ‘Superanus’
which means ‘Supreme Power’
• Bodin has rightly defines sovereignty as ‘supreme power of the state over
citizens and subjects unrestrained by law’
 Sovereignty as an Element of State
Aspects of Sovereignty
• Internal Sovereignty
• External Sovereignty
 Sovereignty as an Element of state
• Internal Sovereignty –It means that the state is supreme or sovereign over
all its people, associations, groups, organizations etc. within the area of its
jurisdiction. Everybody has to abide by the laws of the state failing which
they are liable to be punished.
• External Sovereignty – it implies that the state is free from the control of
any other state. It conducts an independent foreign policy. Acceptance of
any obligations or restrictions on its freedom of action in the international
relations is done out of its own will and not as a compulsion.
Which is the most important element of State

• All the four elements of State are absolutely necessary for the birth and
existence of state. Many scholars consider sovereignty as the most
essential element of State but we must remember that sovereignty cannot
operate in vacuum and becomes meaningless in the absence of population,
territory and government.
• Hence all the four elements are important with one difference that
Sovereignty makes state a supreme association over the rest.
 Non- Essential Elements of a State
• These are the additional traits of a State
• Unity-it implies that all the inhabitants of a state are unified under one political
organization
• Permanence-A state is a permanent entity . Incase a state is conquered by other
state, people do not become stateless. They just attain citizenship of that state.
• Equality- All states are Equal in the eyes of international Law irrespective of
being poor or rich, developed or developing since they all are structurally the
same
 Non- Essential Elements of a State
• Recognition –Acquiring international recognition is integral for a state.
Although scholars have a different view on this.
• Continuity- A change of government does not imply a discontinuity in the
existence of a state.
• Comprehensiveness- no individual , group, organization is out of the
jurisdiction of the state