Role of a State

Introduction -

The most highly and popularly used definition given by a German sociologist
Max Weber is that – A ‘state’ is a polity that maintains a monopoly on the
legitimate use of violence, although other definitions are not uncommon.

A state is a polity under a system of authority or governance with a monopoly

on handle. There is no definite or exact disputed definition for state. In the
simplest of words, it can be said that the state is a form of group of humans that
is distinguished from other social groups by its purpose ie. The establishment of
order and security; its methods ie. The laws and their enforcement; its territory
ie. The area of jurisdiction or geographic boundaries; and finally by its
sovereignty. Many theories for the origin of the earliest states focus on grain
agriculture and settled civilized populations as vital conditions. Some Scholars
also argue that it was climate change which led to a greater concentration of
human populations around dwindling waterways and healthy soil and abundant
forests. According to the famous political thinker, Locke, the state was the
social contract by which individuals came down to agree not to infringe on each
other’s “natural rights” to life, liberty, and property, in exchange for which each
man secures his own sphere of freedom and liberty.

Role of the State in a Nation –

States all over the world perform certain roles and duties that in a Nation which
are as follows-

1. Public Welfare – Since time immemorial, Indian and foreign

philosophers had been emphasizing on the fact that the aim of the state
 was public welfare. The state was organised for the common welfare. The
main goal of the state is to maintain law and order and promote common
welfare.
Plato and Aristotle, who were great philosophers also maintained that the
aim of the state was public good and moral welfare. After that almost all
the political thinkers have been supporting this view. Thus, the aim of the
state is to promote the public welfare.

2. Social Welfare – In all aspects the state aims at eliminating almost all the
evils of society, in order to educate citizens and make them good citizens,
the state introduces more fine and impactful educational system and
wants its individuals to come out as better instruments of society. Almost
all states work for the welfare of its citizens and to increase their standard
of living.

3. Political Welfare- The state also professes and works at the political
welfare of the people. It is for this reason that the state gives some
fundamental rights as well as duties to the government and to the people.
The same has been done in India. In India all the citizens irregardless of
their age, gender, caste or place of birth enjoy the right to vote and every
Indian citizen of twenty-five years of age has the right to both contest the
election either for Legislature or for Parliament.

4. Economic Welfare - The state aims at ensuring economic stability in the

nation. Economy and the Government go parallel, malfunctioning of one
would lead to breakdown of the other. To avoid such breakdown of
government machinery, the state introduces economic plans and sets
down goals like the 5-year plans, community development projects,
 employment schemes and SEZ’s etc. This helps in increasing the national
gross production and eventually the standard of living of people.

5. Establishment of Justice - To ensure the smooth running of society

establishment of justice is essential. Because if the doctrine of “Might is
right” prevails then everybody’s life and property will be in question. The
state frames the laws for the Security and prosperity of the life and
property of the people. The law-breakers are tried and punished according
to the law by the Judiciary and due protection is given to citizens of the
state. It is necessary to ensure fair deliverance of Justice for a state to
function in a humane way.

6. Maintenance of Law and Order – From the very beginning of time, it

has been the sole aim of a state to ensure law and order between its
citizens. The great Epic, Mahabharata supports the view that people
cannot live in the absence of the state or an authority without giving place
to war and conflict. They cannot live because their life, property and
safety are doubtful in the absence of the state. Individualists also support
this view.

7. Necessity of State – The needed for a state is in relation to the public

good, maintenance of law and order, social welfare, establishment of
justice, economic and political welfare of the people. In the absence of a
state anarchy or dictatorship prevails and there is chaos and confusion in
society. The state ensures a well formed civilized society which ensures
continuous development and evolution of the human race.

Types of States-
1. Minimal State-
A Condition where the government’s intervention in the economy
is just sufficient to continue organized economic activity. The
responsibilities of a minimal state include provision of policing, a
judiciary, and defence of the nation. These interventions are
necessary to uphold property rights, enforce contract laws, and
defend the gains from trade. Minimal state refers to a state with
the least possible amount of powers and interference. It is a term
used in political philosophy where the state’s duties are so minimal
that they cannot be reduced much further. In a minimal state,
government’s responsibilities are limited to protecting individuals
from coercion, fraud and theft, to requiring reparation to victims,
and to defending the country from foreign aggression. The only
governmental institutions in a minimal state would be police,
judicial systems, and the military.

2. Developmental State-
Coined by Chalmers Johnson, it is used to describe states that
follow a particularly set framework of economic planning and
management and growth. It was first used to describe the post-1945
Japan and its quick modernisation and growth. In simpler words
the definition would be that “A Developmental State is a state
where the government is intimately involved in the macro and
micro economic planning in order to grow the economy”, along
with the addition of ‘alongside trying to deploy its resources in
trying to ensure a better and raised standard of living for the
people’. The developmental state however, not only refers to the
collective economic and human development, but also emphasizes
 the state’s very important role in harnessing national resources and
directing incentives through a distinctive policy-making process.

3. Social Democratic State-

A political movement advocating a gradual and peaceful transition
from capitalism to socialism by democratic means. In easier words,
it means a democratic welfare state that incorporates both capitalist
and socialist practices. Social democracy emerged as an ideology
alongside the labour and socialist movement, whose goals at
certain times has been a social revolution to sway away from
capitalism to a post-capitalist economy of socialism.

4. Collectivised State-
A collectivised state is characterized by the principle of ownership
by the state or the people of the means of production . It was first
implemented by the Soviet Union for its agricultural sector
between 1928 and 1940. The idea behind this concept was that
integrating individual land holdings and labour into collective state
controlled farms would yield better results. The policy makers
were confident that the replacement of single peasant farms by
collective farms would surely and very rapidly increase the food
supply to be transported to the urban population, the supply of raw
materials for the processing industry, and agricultural exports
through the state-imposed quotas on singles working on collective
farms. Collectivization often suppressed the small farmers and the
State often had to bring in the army to suppress any uprisings from
the peasants. The small farmers often preferred to spoil their crops
 and slaughter their cattle rather than to hand it over to the
collective farms.

5. Totalitarian State-
Totalitarianism, form of government is the one that theoretically
permits no individual freedom and one which seeks to subordinate
and dominate all aspects of individual life to a higher authority that
is usually the state. Benito Mussolini had said that by the end of
World War II, the term totalitarianism had become synonymous to
absolute and oppressive single party system. In India, the Mauryan
Dynasty is considered to an example of Totalitarianism. The state
received a lot of popular support for its leadership. This support
was not an act of surprise, its emergence depended on a
charismatic leader.

6. Modern Welfare State-

The term “welfare state” refers to the type of governing in which
the nation’s government plays a very important role in the
protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of
its citizens. A welfare state is based on the ideals of equality of
opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public
responsibility for those who are not equipped and resources to avail
themselves of the least requirements of a good life. Social Security,
Government mandated unemployment insurance programs, and
welfare subsidies and monetary helps to people unable to work are
all examples of the welfare state. However it is also a criticized
because of it’s ‘nanny’ like features. It is also questioned on its
policies of incentives that are beyond reasonable needs which lead
to unemployed persons to depend more on these incentives and
ends up coddling them like children.