State and Elements of the State
The State
A. INTRODUCTION
There is a difference of opinion as far as the connotation of the term ‘state’ and as to when the concept emerged.For example, for the Greeks, the conceptual frame of a modern nation – state was unknown to them.Aristotle’s ‘Polis’ was more a ‘ city community ‘ than a ‘state’.The term state is comparatively modern. It was not articulated and developed during the Greco- Roman period. Machiavelli seems to be the first writer who introduced the concept of the state in political science.
The word ‘state’ has its origins in the Latin word ‘status,’ which means ‘condition, position, manner, or character.’ The term was used in medieval Latin to refer to the governing body or authority of a country or region. Over time, the word ‘state’ evolved to encompass the entire political entity itself, including its territory, government, and inhabitants.
The term ‘state’ began to be used in its modern sense in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly during the rise of nation-states in Europe. It became associated with the concept of a centralized political entity with defined borders, a system of governance, and a population subject to its authority.
Today, the word ‘state’ is commonly used to refer to a sovereign political entity with defined territory, government, and population, and it is used to describe countries, nations, and governmental institutions around the world.
Definition of State:
The term ‘state’has been defined by a number of political thinkers to let us know what they meant by the term ‘state’. Some of the definitions are:
Bluntschlli: ‘ The state is politically organised people of a definite territory’.
Bodin: ‘ State is an association of families and their common possessions, governed by supreme power and by reason ‘.
Aristotle: ‘ The State is a union of families and villages having for its end a perfect and self- sufficing life by which we mean a happy and honourable life ‘.
Oppenheim: ‘ The state exists when the people are settled in a country under its own sovereign government ‘.
G.D.H.Cole:’ The state is the whole community of its members regarded as an organised social unit ‘.
Robert A.Dahl: ‘ The political system made up of the residents of the territorial area is a State’.
Laski: ‘State is a territorial society divided into government and subjects claiming within its allotted physical area,a supremacy over all other institutions ‘.
Elements of the State:
The term state is used as a synonym for nation, society, country, government etc.State is very commonly used to express the collective action of the community, through the agency of the government.The State is a natural,a necessary and a universal institution.It is natural because it is rooted in the reality of human nature. People need the state to satisfy their diverse needs.State has existed whenever and wherever man has lived in an organised society.The State must possess the elements of:
1.Population; 2. Territory; 3. Government;
4. Sovereignty.
1.Population: The State is a human institution and population and land are the starting point of any study of man in his organised groups.Population must be large enough to make the State and sustain it. The members of one single family do not make the State.There should be a series of families.Plato fixed the number at 5040 citizens. Aristotle held that neither ten nor a hundred thousand could make a good State.Rousseau determined 10,000 to be an ideal number for the state.The modern tendency is in favour of States with huge population.Though no limit, either theoretical or practical, can be placed on the population of the state yet the population must be sufficient to maintain the State organization.
2.Territory: There can be no State without a fixed territory.There is no State without its proper territory large or small, and no territory that is not part of some State, large or small.All authorities on International Law are now agreed that a fixed territory must be a condition of Statehood.Land , water and airspace within the defined territorial area comprise the territory of the State.It embraces the geographical limits of the State.In a small State, the people can meet together,as often as required,to express their opinions about the composition of the government and the laws that should govern the community.The modern tendency is towards planning and self- sufficiency, and it can be realised when the territory of the State is large enough to abound, in a variety of natural resources.
3.Government: People in a country live together but cannot be recognised unless they are properly organised and accept certain rules of conduct. The agency created to enforce such rules of conduct is called government.It is through government that common policies are determined, common affairs are regulated and common interests promoted.Without government the people will be just a babel of tongues with no cohesion and means of collective action.They would divide themselves into groups, parties and even warring associations and thus create conditions of utter chaos and even civil war. The State cannot exist without a government,no matter what form of government may assume.
4. Sovereignty: People inhabiting a definite portion of territory and having a government do not constitute a State unless and until they possess the most essential and distinguishable feature that is Sovereignty.They must be internally supreme and free from external control. Sovereignty of the state has two aspects, internal sovereignty and external sovereignty. Internal sovereignty is the State’s monopoly of authority inside its boundaries. None of the State’s members can owe obedience to any other State.It has no authority outside its own territory.Every state is independent of other states. Its will is its own, unaffected by the will of any other external authority.
