TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Theories of origin of state

2. The patriarchal theory
3. The matriarchal theory
4. Change in matriarchy
5. Theory of divine origin of state
6. Statememt of the theory
7. Theory of force
8. Example
9. Evolutionary or sociological theory
10. Explaination
11. Kinship
12. Magic and religion
13. Rise in property
14. War and force
15. The political consciousness
16. The social contract theory
17. General statement of theory
18. The state of nature
19. The social contract
20. Thomas Hobbes(1588-1679)
21. John Locke (1623-1704)
22. Right to revolt
23. Constitutional monarchy
24. J J Rousseau (1712-1778)
25. Growth in population
26. Rise in property
Political Science :
Theories of the origin of state

Since the begin of the political consciousness, men have always asked
themselves how did the state come into being? How has it developed?
Thinkers have given us various explainations and theories about the
origin and development of state. The reason was the knowledge of the
ancient history and the society did not exist in the past. When the
historical knowledge fails, men resort to speculations (Imaginations). So
the philosophers assumed about the causes and conditions in which the
state originated. They found various speculative theories of the origin
of state.
The study of speculated theories gives assistance in understanding the
truth. To examine and reject a fallacious theory is often a means of
arriving at the truth . As Leacock has rightly said that,
“ The rejection of what is false in the spaculative theories of the past
will aid in establishing more valid conclusions on the residual basis of
what is true”.
By discussing incorrect theories, we can discover the correct theories of
the origin of state.
The theories of the origin of state are :
1. PATRIARCHAL THEORY
2. MATRIARCHAL THEORY
3. THEORY OF DIVINE ORIGIN
4. THEORY OF FORCE
5. EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
 6. THEORY OF SOCIAL CONTRACT

We will discuss these theories in detail as following:

1. THE PATRIARCHAL THEORY
This theory was given by Hennry Maine.
According to this theory, the state is the enlargement of the family. The
original family consisted of a father, a mother, or mothers and their
children, all of whom were under the complete authority of a father. He
considers mother of having a great role for the family, but the real head
of the family is father(man). The state came into being due to father
because he protected the family, provided food and shelter, hunted for
eating and their survival etc.
According to Maine, “ the family was the basic unit of the primitive
society, in which descent was traced through the males. He says that
the elementary group is family. The aggregation of family forms a clan
or house, the aggregation of houses form a tribe, the aggregation of
tribes constitutes a Commonwealth.”
The power of father Over the life and possessions Off all
other members Of his own family was knowknown as “patria
potestas” among the Romans. The eldesteldest male Paren
Possessed Absolute and even despotic authority over them.
He owned all they produced. He could chastise his children
and dependents,He could give them in marriage as he liked,
he could sell them and even he could kill them.
As the time passed, this process led to the formation of clans, and
intimately to tribes and states. Thus the original Patriarchal family
was enlarged into a state. The main points in the patriarchal
theory of Henry maine are :
  Paternal authority of the father or the eldest living male.
 Male descent and kinship.
 Marriage between a man and a woman or women, was the rule.
2. THE MATRIARCHAL THEORY:
The chief advocates of this theory are McLennan, Fradrick Engles,
Morgan and Edward Jenks.
McLennan (primitive society, 1865)
Morgan (Ancient society 1871).
Edward Jenks (History of politics).
Fredrick Engles (The origin of family, prosperity and state).
They say that the state came into being due to mother(women).
Mother is the founding block if a state. The mother basically is the
originator of the state.
The matriarchal theory comes with the idea that, instead of the family
and the permanent marriage union, the primeval society consisted of
matriarchal groups (packs). Men was then at the hunting stage. He
depended on the bounty of nature, and subsided on the fruits or
berries of the forests, and on the animals killed by the pack. In primitive
society, marriage was unknown. Sexual relations were permitted
between men and women of two different packs during a particular
season. The children born to the women would become the pack’ss
members. They did not know who their father was in other packs. The
property or private possessions were unknown. As the wealth was
unknown, there was ko question of inequality and women were the
equals of men.
CHANGE IN METRIARCHY:
But at last the matriarchy changed. The factors of change were the
inventions of tools and implements. The domestication of animals and
the discovery of agriculture. These inventions and discoveries
transformed the wandering hunters. Property relations in land
domestic animals and household possessions began women were
confined to household duties and men took to the hard labour of the
outdoor work.

3. THEORY OF DIVINE ORIGIN OF STATE:

In the Ancient times politics and religion were not separate.

It was then believed that God has created the state as he did
everything. He made certain persons kings to rule over the
others. In the ancient times countries like Egypt, the kings
were both rulers and preists or god-kings. In the middle
ages, it was believed that the kings were “the shadows of
God on earth”.
STATEMENT OF THE THEORY:
The theory of divine origin of state can be summed up in
three basic ideas:
 The state is created by God.
 The kings are appointed by God.
 The kings are only answerable to God
In other words, the state and it’s laws are divinely given. Therefore,
to disobey the king is not only a crime but also a sin, because to disobey
the laws of king is really to disobey the laws of God. The king is the
representative of God, or he is “the shadow of God”. As the king is
chosen and appointed by God, he is answerable to God for his
government. The people must obey the laws of the kings as blindly and
unquestionably as they obey God.
THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KING:
The theory of divine right of king is presented by King James I of
England and Sir Robert Filmier, in the 17th century A.D. King James
quarrelled with its parliament because it claimed a share in the
government of the country. King took dependence of this theory. He
saved himself by saying, “king can do no wrong. King is divinely
appointed and he is the shadow of God on earth. Even if the king is
wicked, it means god has sent him as a punishment for people’s sins”.
Robert Filmier was a courteous of King James I. He also depended on
the information of pseudo historic myths and primogenitor. He states in
his book that king is divinely appointed and everyone must follow him.
If a king does wrong, he would not answer to people because he is only
answerable to God.

4. THE THEORY OF FORCE:

The theory of force basically has two statements :
 How state originated?
 How sustained afterwards?
According to this theory, state is a product of force, aggression, war,
conquest and subjugation. Edward Jenks says, “ the stronger men or
the king attached the weaker ones and subjugated them establishing
the rule of political command and obedience”.
The state came into being due to force ( wars, fifights. The state is the
child of force, of aggression, of war and of subjugation. It is the name of
constant warfares and stories of mass killings.
Woodrow Wilson ( the American president at the time of WWI ) said,
“Wars (the methods of blood and Iron ) not only originated the state
but sustained the continuity of state.
A famous saying i.e “ war begats the king”. Means war is necessary to
begate a king. A stronger man enslaved the weaker men and became
the chief of his tribe. A stronge tribe subdued its neighbors and
founded a kingdom. The king of a stronge kingdom conquered weaker
kingdoms around him and established an empire.
Example :
England was originally a country of Anglo-Saxon tribes, constantly
fighting with one another. At last, they came to be divided in seven
kingdoms till at last one of them conquered all of other kingdoms and
founded the kingdom of England. Several centuries later, the English
kingdom enslaved several other kingdoms of the world and became the
British Empire of the 19th century.
According to this theory, the use of force does not end with the
establishment of the state. Once it is established, force is still required
to preserve it by maintaining law and order within the state, by
suppressing internal disturbances and revolts and repelling foreign
aggression. Thus, might becomes right and the right is enforced by the
power of state. In short, the theory may be summarized as, “ the state
is outcome of human aggression in the past and is subsequently
maintained, defended or destroyed by force, coercion (pressure) and
compulsion.
 5. THE EVOLUTIONARY OR SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY:
Dr. Garner was the main supporter of this theory. He states,
“The state is neither the handiwork of God, nor the result of creation of
any Superior physical force,nor the reaction of a contract, nor the
extension of the family”.
The speculations and imaginations would not help us much in
discovering the beginnings of the state in the remote past. We have to
seek the help of other social sciences to understand how the states
originated and developed into its present form. In this respect, history
is our giude, and sociology is our ground to formulate a correct theory
of the origin of state. They give us the historical or evolutionary theory
which is now accepted as true and correct theory of the origin of state.
EXPLAINATION :
Briefly, the forces and influences in the evolution of the state are :
 Kinship
 Magic and Religion
 Rise in property
 War and force
 The political consciousness
KINSHIP :
The earliest social bond which could unite and organise primitive men
into relations of command and obedience, was kinship. It is a natural
relation based on blood and birth. The earliest relation is between
mother and child. The kinship basically for the security of blood
relations (family).
Within the family, the children obeyed their father, while the members
of the tribe obeyed the elders of their tribes, related as they were
kinship or blood relationship. The bond of kinship was the first element
of social unity, the first sanction of authority and the first basis of
descipline.
MAGIC AND RELIGION:
Simultaneously with kinship, magic and religion began to operate as
unifying political forces. Primitive me did not understand the forces of
nature and the cause of their operation. Thus In primitive tribes, the
men who knew about magic and medicine acquired authority over the
tribe. When religion became more refined, the social bond within the
tribe became stronger. Religion became a powerful instrument for
obedience and preserving order. Religion has influenced the
development of states down to present times. For instance, in very
recent times, two new states Pakistan and India were established on
the basis of two religions, Islam and Hinduism.
RISE IN PROPERTY:

One of the most powerful factors in the evolution of the state was the
rise in property or the need to regulate economic relations. It
transformed the partiarchal tribal groups into tribal states. It created
the need for authority which was able to define and enforce the rights
of families and individuals to the shares in land and property of the
settled community.
The growth of property created economic classes, based on inequality
of wealth. Adam Smith, the father of classical economics, writes,
“Where there is no property or at least no more than exceeds the
value of two or three days labour, civil government is not so
necessary”. Economically dominant classes became also politically
dominant and vice versa. In short, the rise of the state was determined
by the growth of property relations and classes.
WAR AND FORCE
War and force played an important role in the evolution of state. In the
beginning, might was right. In the ancient tribes, war began for the
economic purpose. War and wealth went hand by hand in the early
societies. War had a powerful influence on it, and the constant
warfares led to the rise of permanent leadership. When a tribe was
threatened by war, it had to choose a leader who would lead it against
its enemies. Thus the leader became the tribal chief. The successful war
leaders became kings and emperors. Thus military and economic
factors transformed the primitive patriarchal tribes into the ancient
territorial kingdoms.
THE POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
The slow rise of political consciousness is also an essential factor in the
growth and development of the state. Political consciousness means
the the thought or knowledge of certain ends and purposes to be
attained through political organization (Such as the need for defense
and attack, the protection of life and property, the regulation of the
social relations of marriage and family and the need to maintain law
and order).

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

The social contract is as old as political speculation. The ancient

Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato discussed it(but only to
reject it). At first, this theory did not get so much attention
because it was the age of religion, when men’s eyes were fixed on
 the heavens and on the next life. But the hayday of yrthe social
contract theory was in early modern age. I e 16th, 16th, and 18th
centuries, when the great controversy between the freedom of
the subject and authority of the king began. It was the time when
man was awakening from the centuries old slumber of political
life. During the 16-18th centuries, this theory had a universal
apepal and was widely believed. Its numerous believers and
supporters put forth many versions of this theory. Three of them
Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau have achieved great fame and Are
today considered as its chief exponents.
GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE THEORY
They all were of the unanimous openion that the state was a
result of a social contract and deliberate effort of human citation.
This theory aims at the explaination of the origin of state and its
jurisdiction. As regards to the evolution of state, this theory
demarcates three stages :
 The state of nature
 The social contract
 The creation of society and state

THE STATE OF NATURE

In the first period of human existence, man was found in the state of
nature. When he was uncontrolled by any law of human imposition.
When he was guided by such regulations as nature itself prescribed for
him. These laws are written nowhere. Some writers say that the state
of nature was pre-social , means it was prior to human society. While
others are of the openion that it was pre-political, means it was a
society but without any political organization or state. Some writers
also consider it as “it was one of “wild savagery”. Whether the state of
nature was good or bad, all the social contract theorists agree that men
decided to contract out of it.
THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
When men of the state of nature were compelled to leave it, they
entered into a voluntary (but mutual agreement) contract to put an end
to the lawless condition and establish a state or civil society. The
individuals gave up their natural isolation and joined into one civil
society or state. Each individual now submitted himself to the joint
control of all and was protected by all against the possible rapacity of
any other. Social duties are imposed upon all and social rights are
granted to them.

THOMAS HOBBES (1588-1679)

Hobbes was an Englishman who lived at the time when his country was
passing through the turmoils of a civil war. He wrote this theory in his
famous book “the leviathan(1651)” in which he advocated the
establishment of a strong and absolutist government to maintain law
and order.
According to Thomas Hobbes, man was essentially selfish,
egoistic and self-seeking. The sole motive of his actions was the
satisfaction of his own desires and appetites at the expense of others
desires and needs. His dealings with other men were characterized by
competition, diffidence or distrust and selfish love of power. From this
analysis of human nature Hobbes concluded that man was not a social
being, indeed he finds “ Nothing but grief in the company of his
fellows”. All men were equally selfish, self-seeking, cunning, brutal and
aggressive. He thought that only absolute monarchy could restore
peace and order.
JOHN LOCKE (1623-1704)
John Locke, another English philosopher, expounded his social contract
theory in his book “ Two treatises on civil government (1689).
According to him, the state of nature was a golden age. Because there
was absolute freedom and everyone was happy. No state and
sovereignty existed there. He also says that the state of nature was not
pre-social but pre-political, means societies existed there but there was
no politics in the society.
According to him there were two contracts :
RIGHT TO REVOLT
It means that if the civil government is not performing well, so they can
remove the sovereign.
CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
The people have the right to revolt or rebellion against the sovereign.

JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712-1778)

He was a french philosopher (By birth a swiss but adopted France as his
country). He lived in the pre-revolutionary Eighteenth century France.
Rousseau’s writings inspired the great French revolution of 1789. He
presented this theory in his book “A discourse on the origin of
inequality(1762)”.
Rousseau said that the state of nature was neither Hobbsian nor
Locker, but the amalgamation of both. Rousseau believed that man
lived a free, happy and peaceful life in the state of nature. It was an
idyllic condition. But two things put an end to this happy existence.
GROWTH IN POPULATION
RISE IN PROPERTY
He says that the growth of population and the origin of private property
divided men because they began to think in terms of mine and thine.
The peace, equality and freedom of the state of nature was gone, and
in their place, war, murder, disputes and quarrels broke out among
them. They however, escaped from this miserable existence only by
entering into contract and instituting a civil society.

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