THEORY AND PRACTICE OF STATE

LEGAL NOTION OF STATE: Strength & Limitations

 INTRODUCTION

 Political Science is the systematic study of the state and government.

The concept of ‘the state’ was considered the central theme of
traditional Political Science.
 R.G Gettle opinioned that “PS as the science of the state.”
 Garner said that “PS begins and ends with the State.”
 Greeks did not use the term “State”. They used the term “Polis”.
Romans used the term “Civitas”.
 Thus neither the Greeks nor the Romans used the word State.
 INTRODUCTION
 Niceolo Machiavelli an Italian political thinker who first used the term
“State” in the modern literature of PS in his classic work “The Prince”
published in 1532 A.D.
 The modern term ‘State’ has been derived from the Latin word “Status”,
meaning ‘condition/circumstances’.
 State is a community of persons more or less numerous, permanently
occupying a definite portion of territory, having a government of their
own to which the great body of inhabitants render obedience, and
enjoying freedom from external control.
 The supremacy of the commends of the state is an essential element
which distinguishes it from all other associations of men.
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE

The State is a historic entity. State has been viewed differently by

different political thinkers. During the evolution of political
philosophy, different notions of State have emerged.
 ETHICAL NOTION OF THE STATE:
Major Supporters: Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Hegel, Kant, Green, etc
Aristotle said “the State has come into existence for life and exists for
the sake of good life.”
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE

 State is a necessary ethical institution. It fulfils our various needs

and requirements. It is necessary for all-round development of man.
 State is an end itself because it is a perfect institution with ethics
and morality.
 From the State individuals achieves moral excellence by performing
their duties and enjoying their rights.
Limitation: Individuals cannot enjoy liberties in an absolute Ethical
State.
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE

THE LEGAL NOTION OF THE STATE:

Major Exponents: Hobbes, Bodin, Bentham, Austin, etc.
 They interpret the state as a legal structure. State was formed for
making, interpreting and enforcing law.
 State creates laws and norms in order to regulate human
behaviour.
 State also has coercive powers in the case of violation of laws.
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE

 The legal notion regards the state as a legal person having a

distinctive personality and will of its own.
 As a legal personality State property, direct economic enterprises,
may be sued in the courts.
 State harmonises activities of the various members of society.
 Drawback: This notion of state is not an absolute one. There are
limitations on the exercise of political power by the state.
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE
THE POWER NOTION OF THE STATE: Machiavelli is the main exponent of
power notion.
 When individuals came into contact with one another, it is natural that
conflicts and contradictions may arise in society. To resolve these
conflicts and to maintain peace and harmony in society there is a need of
power which uphold the common good of the people.
 The state is the power to cope with the demands of the individuals and
to resolve the contradictions in society.
• Limitations: Though force is an essential part of the State, yet it is not the
basis/foundation of the state. Maclver said “Coercive power is only the
criterion of State and not its essence.”
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE
STATE AS A NATURAL INSTITUTION: Exponents of this theory say
that state as a natural institution and man became civilised only in
the State.
 The state came into existence for the sake of life and continues to
exist for the sake of good life. Hence, Aristotle called man a political
animal. State is prior to man.
STATE AS A DIVINE INSTITUTION:
The medieval thinkers considered State as a divine institution. It was
believed that God created the state and the monarch/king was the
representative of God on earth.
 VARIOUS NOTION OF STATE
STATE ACCORDING TO LIBERAL THINKERS:
 The Renaissance and Reformation challenged the divine theory. The
French revolution gave a rude shock to the State as a divine
institution.
 It gave the slogan of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity. The Liberal
thinkers stated that State is not a divine institution but man made
institution. The state is only a mean not an end itself and state is a
necessary evil.
STATE ACCORDING TO MARXIST THINKERS: According to Marxist
concept State is essentially a class structure. It is an organisation of
one class dominating over the other classes. It upholds the interests
of the few at the cost of many.
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE

POPULATION

SOVEREIGNTY STATE TERRITORY

GOVERNMENT
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 State is a political institution and is the highest of all human
associations.
 Dr. Garner, “ The state as a concept of Political Science and public
law is a community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently
occupying a definite portion of territory independent or merely so
of external control and possessing an organised government to
which greater body of inhabitants render habitual obedience”.
 The Population and Territory are physical elements, the Government
is political one and Sovereignty is an abstract element.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
POPULATION or the number of people: The state is a human
institution and is the highest of all human associations.
 There can be no state without human beings. Therefore, the
population is an essential element of the state.
 The Greek philosophers believed that the population should
neither be too small nor too big.
 Plato in his book ‘the law’ fixed the population of an ideal state as
5040. According to Rousseau 10000 is an ideal number of state
populations.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 There is no hard and fast rule regarding the size of population. Many
modern states have big and small population. Irrespective of their
population they are called States.
 Thus the size of populations varies from State to State. The
population may heterogeneous or homogenous.
 Population was a definite asset for a state in earlier days when
physical power was the main source of the production process as
well as for the defence of the country.
 Now, it is accepted that the population should be in proportion to
the resources available in the territory.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE

 Aristotle has rightly remarked that ‘a good citizen makes a good

state and a bad citizen makes a bad state.’
 Honest, hardworking and intelligent people are a boon or asset to
the state.
 The size of state should be small enough to be well-governed and
large enough to be self-sufficient.
 The largest countries by population in globe are 1-China, 2-India, 3-
US, 4-Indonesia, 5-Brazil, 6-Pakistan, 7-Nigeria, 8-Bangladesh, 9-
Russia, 10-Mexico.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 TERRITORY or a fixed place of residence: A state comes into
existence only when its population is settled in a fixed territory (pre-
state society-nomadic tribes moved from one place to another
searching for food).
 International law regards possession of a fixed territory as the
essential attribute of the state.
 Demarcation of physical boundaries is, therefore, essential for
establishing the real identity of a state.
 Territory symbolizes the sphere of sovereignty of the state. Territory
provides natural resources for the sustenance of the population of
the state.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 The feeling of patriotism-the sense of belonging to a state-binds the
people of different races, with different religions, languages and
cultures, by the thread of national unity and mutual cooperation.
 The territory of a state includes the land, water and air-space within
its boundaries and includes territorial waters.
 Sometimes territories are demarcated mainly on a political basis
rather than on a geographical basis.
 Political thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Montesquieu and Rousseau
had preferred in favour of small States.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 The size of state may vary as big or small, The largest countries by
territory are 1-Russia, 2-Canada, 3-US, 4-China, 5-Brazil, 6-Australia,
7-India, 8-Argentina, 9-Kazakistan, 10-Algeria, etc.,
 An equilibrium is to be maintained between the territory, resources
and the population of the State. Economic self-sufficiency is
essential for the stability of a state.
 Nowadays, scientific and technological advancement is also
important to tackle the issues of the state.
 Therefore, it is territory but not the size of the territory which is the
yardstick of statehood.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
GOVERNMENT or an organization for uniting the people: An
aggregation of people permanently settled in a fixed territory
cannot constitute a state in the absence of the government because
it will be unorganized, incoherent and anarchic one.
 The state represents an abstract concept whereas government is its
concrete form.
 Government is a political organization. According to Garner,
“Government is an agency or machinery, through which the
collective will of the people, or state may be formulated, expressed
and executed.”
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 The authority of the state is exercised by the government and
functions of the state are performed by the govt.
 A modern govt has mainly 3 branches namely Legislative,
Executive and Judiciary.
 Laws of the state are made, declared and enforced by the govt
and justice is dispensed by the judicial organ of the govt. It also
punishing the law-breakers.
 Government is responsible for the maintenance of law and
order without which no progress can be possible.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 Government provides common services like defence, issue of
currency, foreign relations, roads, bridges, transport &
communications, water, electricity, health and educations, etc. and
it is entitled to levy taxes.
 A citizen has to deal with government of the state; any transaction
between different states, including war, migration issues takes place
through the medium of their governments.
 The nature of the gvernment, may vary in kind and complexity from
nation to nation. It may be despotic, monarchical, republican,
militarist, democratic, so on, but there should be an organized
agency called government.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 There are differences between State & Govt, State is the whole, and
the government is only its part or one of its elements.
 State stands for the entire community within the territorial limit,
whereas government means only a group of persons authorized to
govern on behalf of the state.
 Government may rise and fall without disturbing identity of the
state.
 However, a state will lose its identity if it is suppressed by any other
state power and it is reduced to a colony of the imperial power.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
SOVEREIGNTY or independence in internal & external matters:
Sovereignty means the supreme or ultimate power of the state to
make laws or take political decisions or policies.
 Sovereignty denotes the final authority of the state over its
population and its territory.
 This authority may be exercised by the government of the day, but it
essentially belongs to the state.
 The feature of sovereignty distinguishes the state from all other
forms of human association.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 Two manifestations of Sovereignty:
a) Internal Sovereignty: the power of the state to rule within its
territory; those who do not obey the laws framed by the
government will be punished.
b) External Sovereignty: the freedom of the state to carry out its
activities without subjection or control by other states. External
sovereignty means that the state is free to make its foreign policy
without any external pressure.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 A state continues to exist so long as it is armed with sovereignty. If a
state loses its sovereignty because of internal revolt or external
aggression, the result is anarchy and disappearance of the state as
such.
 Some writers regard ‘international recognition’ as an essential
element of the state. However, international recognition is the
outcome of the sovereignty of the state, not a condition of its
existence.
 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF STATE
 For instance, when Bangladesh comes into existence, some state
recognised it soon while some are withhold their recognition for a
quite long time.
 Israel also continued to be states even though some states had not
recognised it for a long time.
 USA had withheld recognition of USSR and Peoples Republic of
China for decades after they came into existence, but they did exist
as states.
 Therefore, international recognition is not a fundamental element
of the state but an incidental to sovereignty.