The theories of State

I) Definition of State
The state is a special powerful organization of society, including a class of people
separated from society to specialize in the exercise of power, to organize and manage
society, to serve the common interests of the whole society as well as the interests of
the forces of society. ruling power in society.
II) Nature of State
1) Social organization and power in primitive communist society
Human society has gone through a period without state and law, that is, the period of
primitive communism. During this period, due to the extremely low level of
development of the productive forces, people lived together, worked together, and
enjoyed the fruits of common labor. Everyone is equal in labor and enjoyment, society
does not distinguish between the rich and the poor, there is no division into classes.
The economic basis of the primitive communist society created the form of social
organization as the clan - the first basic organization of human society. The clan is a
productive labor organization, a socio-economic machine. The development of society
combined with other influencing factors required the clan to expand its relations with
other clans, leading to the emergence of ethnic groups and tribes consisting of many
ethnic groups.
In the primitive communist society, power was not separated from society but
attached to society and integrated with society. To organize and manage the clan,
society has formed the form of the Gentile Council consisting of all the elders in the
clan with great powers. The ethnic group management organization is the Ethnic
Council consisting of chiefs and military leaders of the clans, with the principles of
organizing power similar to the principle of organizing the power of the clan but with
higher centralization. Tribal council is a form of tribal management organization with
the same principle of organizing power as clans and clades, but with a higher degree
of concentration of power. Thus, in the primitive communist society, power appeared
and existed, but it was social power that came from society and served the interests of
the whole society. The heads of clans, clades, and tribes do not have any privileges or
privileges, they live together, work together, and enjoy themselves like all other
members and are subject to the inspection of the community.
2) Class division and the emergence of the state
The development of productive forces and social labor productivity changed the social
organizational structure of primitive communist society. After three times of social
division of labor, private property appeared, dividing society into the rich and the
poor, forming two basic classes: masters and slaves. A new society with class division
and class struggle requires a new organization of power, in order to quell class
conflicts, that power organization is the state. Thus, the state appears objectively, "a
force arising from society, a force that seems to stand above society, whose task is to
calm the conflict and keep it in order. on one's own"!.
The state was born and exists in a class society, thus showing a profound class nature.
The class nature of the state is shown first of all in that the state, which is a special
coercive apparatus in the hands of the ruling class, is a sharp tool to maintain class
domination. In exploiting societies, the states of the exploiting class (the slave-owner
state, the feudal state, the bourgeois state) have a common nature as the apparatus for
implementing the dictatorship of the exploiting class, which is the exploiting class- a
minority in society. In contrast, socialist states are the apparatus that consolidates the
leadership position and protects the interests of the working class and the working
people, the force that makes up the majority in society, suppresses the old ruling
forces who were overthrown and their opponents, and builds a just, democratic and
equal society.
On the other hand, in a class society, the state is not only a representative of the ruling
class, protecting the interests of the ruling class but, to a certain extent, also a
representative of the interests of the general of society. In other words, besides class as
the basic aspect of the state's nature, sociality is also a characteristic of the state's
nature.
III) Basic characteristics of State
The state is a part of the superstructure of society, the product of a certain socio-
economic regime. The development of infrastructure regulates the development of the
state. However, the development of the state depends not only on the change of the
economic base but also on other conditions and factors such as: class force correlation,
severity of social conflicts, political parties, political-legal viewpoints, etc. On the
contrary, the state also has a strong impact on the economic base, on the conditions
and development process of production as well as other social phenomena.
In order to realize and protect their interests, in addition to organizing the state, the
ruling class also establishes or uses political organizations, socio-political
organizations, the most notable of which are: Political parties. Compared with those
organizations, the state holds the central position because only the state has special
institutions with accompanying material means such as the army, police, courts, etc.
prison, etc., so that it can have a powerful and comprehensive impact on social life.
Compared with other organizations in society, the state has the following
characteristics:
1. State establishes a special public power. To exercise power, the state has a
contingent of civil servants specializing in management tasks; they were
recruited into state agencies and formed a coercive apparatus to maintain the
status of the ruling class.
 2. State divides the population by territory, into administrative units regardless of
political opinion, bloodline, gender, occupation... This division determines the
scope of the state's influence on the largest scale.
3. State has national sovereignty with political content - foreign law, independent
of external factors.
4. State promulgates laws and exercises legal management over the whole
society. As the official representative of state society, administering society by
law - regulations set by the state itself and enforced by everyone.
IV) Functions of State
The function of State is the main activity aspect of the state in order to perform the
tasks set for the state.
Based on the scope of activities, the functions of the state are divided into internal
functions and external functions. Domestic functions are the main activities within the
country such as: ensuring social order and safety, suppressing dissidents, protecting
the socio-political regime, building and developing the country. The foreign affairs
function shows the operational aspects of the state in relations with other states in the
world and other peoples such as: defending the country, resisting foreign aggression,
establishing relations with other countries.
To perform its functions and tasks, the state uses many different forms and methods of
operation. The main forms of state activities are legislative activities (law-making),
executive activities (organization of the implementation and enforcement of laws) and
judicial activities (law protection). The methods of performing the state's functions are
diverse, but in general, states use two main methods of persuasion and coercion.
Depending on the nature of the state and the specific characteristics of each country,
states use these methods differently.
The functions and tasks of the state as well as its forms and methods of operation are
carried out through the state apparatus.
V) Type of State
The nature of the state in different historical periods is very different. To distinguish
them, the general science of state theory and law introduces the concept of state type.
● State type is the totality of basic characteristics specific to the state, expressing
the nature and conditions of existence and development of the state in a certain
socio-economic form.
The history of class society has existed four socio-economic forms: slavery,
feudalism, capitalism, and socialism. Corresponding to the four socio-economic
forms, there are four types of state - the slave-owner state, the feudal state, the
bourgeois state, and the socialist state.
Although the types of state, the slave owner, feudalism, and bourgeoisie have their
own characteristics in terms of nature, tasks and functions, they all have one common
feature - an exploitative state. The type of socialist state has the historical destiny of
abolishing the human exploitation of people, building socialism, promoting the
people's mastery, and realizing social justice.
The term “type of state” not only shows the peculiarities of states but also shows their
development trends. As with the replacement of socio-economic forms, the
replacement of one type of state by another is a natural historical process. It is a
necessary and objective process, accomplished through a social revolution. The latter
type of state is always more advanced and complete than the former, but still has a
certain inheritance.
VI) Form of State
If the nature of the state clearly indicates to whom the state power belongs, to which
classes it serves the interests, and if the type of state shows the basic and specific signs
of the state, then the form of state indicates the way in which state power is organized,
that is, the way in which the will of the ruling class is transformed into the will of the
state. That is the way in which the state apparatus is organized, the order in which
state agencies are established, the position and role of each state agency in the
exercise of political power, and the relationship between state agencies together as
well as the organization of the exercise of state power on a national scale and within
each region and each locality of the country. The form of the state is determined by
the nature of the state.
The form of state consists of two elements: the polity form and the structural form.
In addition, the political regime is also a factor that directly affects the form of the
state.
1. The form of polity
● The form of polity is the way in which the highest authority of the state is
organized and the order in which it is established, along with the relationship
between those agencies. There are two basic forms of government: monarchy
and republic.
a) Monarchy
● Monarchy is a form of government in which the supreme power of the state is
fully or partially concentrated in the hands of the head of state (head of state)
formed according to the principle of succession (the succession). The King,
Emperor, and Führer are the heads of state of the countries under this regime.
The state under the monarchy is called a monarchy. Monarchy is divided into
absolute monarchy and limited monarchy.
- Absolute monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the head of state
(King, Emperor) has unlimited power.
- In limited monarchy states, the supreme power of the state is partly
vested in the head of state and partly in the hands of another high-
ranking body (such as parliament in a private state). estate or class
representative conference in the feudal state). The limited monarchy in
 bourgeois states is called a constitutional monarchy (representative
monarchy). In bourgeois states under parliamentary monarchy, the
power of the head of state (King, Emperor) is very limited. As the head
of state, the King is only symbolic, representing the tradition and the
unity of the nation, does not have much power in reality, “the king
reigns but does not rule”. A parliamentary constitutional monarchy
exists in many developed capitalist countries such as Japan, the United
Kingdom, Sweden, etc., due to certain historical reasons.
b) Republic
● A republic is a form of government in which the supreme power of the state
belongs to an elected body for a certain period of time. A state under a republic
is called a republic. There are two main forms of republican government:
aristocratic republics and democratic republics.
- Aristocratic republic was a form of government in which the
representative body was elected by the nobility. This polity exists only
in the type of slave-owner and feudal state.
- A democratic republic is a form of polity in which representatives are
elected by the people. This polity exists in all four types of state that
have existed in history, with very different notions of "democracy".The
democratic republic is the most common form of state government
organization today in bourgeois states.
- The bourgeois republic has two variations: a parliamentary republic
and a presidential republic.
+ In a parliamentary republic, the parliament is the central
authority. Parliament has a great position and role in the
mechanism of exercising state power. Here, the head of state (the
President) is elected by the parliament, responsible to the
parliament. The government is formed by the political parties
holding the majority of seats in the parliament and is accountable
to the parliament, which can vote no confidence in the
government. Thus, in these countries, the parliament has the
actual ability to check the activities of the Government and the
President is hardly directly involved in handling the affairs of the
country.
+ In a presidential republic, the head of state (the President) has a
very important position and role. The President is elected by the
people directly (or indirectly through the electorate). The
President is both the head of state and the head of government.
Government is not made up of parliament. The members of the
Government are appointed by the President and are accountable
 to the President. In presidential republics, the division between
legislative and executive powers is very clear: the President and
ministers have full executive power, the parliament has
legislative power; Parliament does not have the power to
overthrow the Government, the President does not have the right
to dissolve parliament ahead of time.In addition to the
parliamentary republic and the presidential republic, there is now
a form of "Semi - presidential republic" that is both
parliamentary and presidential. A Semi - presidential republic has
the following basic characteristics:
● Parliament elected by the people.
● The center of power is the President. The President is also
elected by the people and has great powers including the
power to dissolve parliament, form the government, and
make national policies.
● The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, placed
under the direct leadership of the President, accountable to
the President and Parliament. The French Republic and
some European countries are Semi - presidential republics.
Republican polity also exists in socialist countries
(Vietnam, Cuba, China, Laos, etc.) with different names as
well as between central government agencies and local
state agencies.
2. Structural form
There are mainly two forms of state structure: unitary state and federal state.
- A unitary state is a state with common sovereignty, a unified legal
system, a parliament and a unified system of state agencies from the
central to local levels. Administrative-territorial units usually include
provinces (cities), districts (counties), communes (wards) operating on
the basis of regulations of the central government. Vietnam, China,
France... are states in the form of a unitary structure.
- A federal state is a state made up of two or more member states (or
states) combined. In the federal state, in addition to the state power
agencies and state management agencies common to the whole
federation, the common legal system of the federal government, each
member state also has a system of state agencies. and the legal system of
each member state. In other words, in the federal state, not only the
federation has a state sign, but each member state to a certain extent also
has a state sign, although that sign is incomplete according to the
concept. state in its original sense. The United States of America, the
Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Republic of Russia, etc. are
federal states.