WEEK 2: THE STATE

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

A. DEFINITION OF STATE

The modern term “state” is derived from the word “status”. It was Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) who first used
the term “state” in his writings. His significant work is titled as “Prince”.

The state is the most universal and most powerful of all institutions. The state is a natural institution.

A 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 habitual obedience, and enjoying
freedom from external control.

State has been also been defined variously by political thinkers. Some of the definitions are the following:
 “State is a numerous assemblage of human beings, generally occupying a certain territory among whom
the will of the majority or of an ascertainable class of persons is by the strength of such a majority made
to prevail against any of their members who oppose it.” -Alisha Holland, Harvard University Professor
 “State is a particular portion of mankind viewed as an organized unit.” -John William Burgess, (1844–
1931) American political theorist, historian, and university dean.
 “State is a people organized for law within a definite territory.” -Former US Pres. Woodrow Wilson
(1913-1921)
 “State is a territorial society divided into government and subjects claiming within its allotted physical
area a supremacy over all other institutions.” -Prof. Harold Joseph Laski (1893-1950) British political
scientist, educator and Labor leader.
 “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 honorable life.” -Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher and polymath.
 “The marks of an independent state are that the community constituting it is permanently established for
a political end, that it possesses a defined territory and that it is independent of external control.” –
Arnold Bennett Hall (1881–1936) American educator, political scientist.
 “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 nearly so, of external
control possessing an organized government to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual
obedience.”-James Wilford Garner (1871-1938) American professor of Political Science.
 “The state is an association which, acting through law as promulgated by a government endowed to this
end with coercive power, maintains within a community territorially demarcated the universal external
conditions of social order.”- Robert M. Maclver, Scottish-American sociologist, a humanist, and political
scientist (1882-1970)
 According to William F. Ogburn, an American sociologist, a state “is an organization which rules by
means of a supreme government over a definite territory.”
 According to Max Weber, a German sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economist (1864-1920),
“The state is an association that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of violence.”
 According to Anderson and Parker, “A state is that agency in a society that is authorized to exercise
coercive control within a given territory.”

From the foregoing definitions, we can deduce that the State has four essential elements: a) People, b)
Government, c) Territory, and d) Sovereignty.

B. ELEMENTS OF THE STATE

1. People/Population
People refers to the mass of population living within the state. “People” answers the question, “who
governs whom?”

According to Plato, there is no specific number requirement; “…the state shall neither be too small nor yet
one that seems great but has no unity.” Aristotle, on the other hand, says “the number should be neither
too large nor too small; It should be large enough to be self-sufficing and small enough to be well
governed.”
 2. Territory
Territory is the demarcated area that rightly belongs to the population. “Territory” answers the question,
“where?” It is a definite portion of the surface of the earth which is the subject of the jurisdiction and
sovereign rights of a state in accordance with the international law.

There can be no state without a fixed territory. People need territory to live and organize themselves
socially and politically. Territory refers to the terrestrial (land), fluvial/maritime (water), and aerial (air-
space) domains. The territorial domains are: a. terrestrial (land) b. fluvial (water) which includes maritime
and c. aerial (air). It consists the land within its boundaries, the air space above the land, the inland
waters and all the natural resources therein, and the sea beyond the state’s coastlines, including its
seabed and subsoil. In the case of archipelagic states this territorial sea stretches to 12 miles (19kms)
from the coastlines to the open sea.

As in the case of the population, there is no definite size with regard to the extent of area of the state to
be fixed. There are large and small states. However, territory should be permanent and large enough to
be self-sufficing. Vatican is the smallest with a total land area of 0.44 km 2; Russia is the largest with
17,098,242 km2
3. Government
There can be no state without government. Government is the agency to which the will of the state is
formulated, expressed, and carried out. It is an institution or aggregate of institutions by which an
independent society makes and carries out those rules of action necessary to enable men to live in a
social state, or that which are imposed upon the people by those who possess the power or authority of
prescribing them.

4. Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience its will from the
people within its jurisdiction, and corollarily, to have freedom from foreign control.

The word “sovereignty” means supreme and final legal authority above and beyond which no legal power
exists. Sovereignty has two aspects: 1) Internal sovereignty which means that the State is supreme over
all its citizens, and associations; 2) External sovereignty which means that the state is independent and
free from foreign or outside control.

C. THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE STATE

There are several theories that attempt to explain the origin of the state, but no single theory offers an adequate
explanation. These theories have been formed and developed as a result of the political thought and philosophy
in the ancient time until the Enlightenment period in Europe.

1. Divine Right Theory

The Divine Right Theory holds that the state is of divine creation and the ruler is ordained by God to
govern the people. Reference has been made by advocates of this theory to the laws which Moses
received at Mount Sinai.

The rulers of the past advocated the political dominance of authority and power through their own
ordained mandate that they represented the state as on the basis of the divine right (as God created the
state). It was in this nature that the divine rights of kings have the absolute power and influence over their
subjects.

This is the oldest theory concerned in the origin of state. According to this theory, state is established and
governed by God himself by agent or vice regent or vicar of God. The chief exponent of this theory in
early times were the Jews and supporters were the early church fathers.

2. Necessity or Force Theory

Necessity or force theory maintains that the state must have been created as a product of the existence
of the strong and the weak in society, and as a result of their struggle against each other wherein those
who are strong are able to dominate and impose their will upon the weak. The creation of the state
through the constant war and invasion of the great warriors in the ancient time dominated the weak and
later on formed a state.
 According to this theory, state is the result of the superior physical force and subjugation of the weaker
section by the stronger. Physical strength was able to overcome fellow men and to exercise authority
over them.

3. Natural or Instinctive Theory

The Natural or Instinctive Theory holds that the state is founded out of man’s natural instinct for
association. The social urge of the human being to be within a group of people in the community as in
sociology describes that “man is a social being.” The social group provides the political development to
stay and work together with common goal in the community then later on transforms into a state.

4. Patriarchal Theory
The Patriarchal theory attributes the origin of states to the enlargement of the family which remained
under the authority of the father or mother. By natural stages, the family grew into a clan, then developed
into a tribe which broadened into a nation and the nation became a state.

 According to MacIver, “Kinship creates society and society at length creates the states.”
In the process of development of kinship patriarchal and matriarchal both societies were experienced and
such societies contributed in the origin of the state theory through their authority, military and political and
religious privileges and powers.

5. Social Contract Theory

Social contract theory asserts that the early states must have been formed by deliberate and voluntary
compact among the people to form a society and organize government for their common good.
This theory justifies the right of the people to revolt against a bad ruler.

This is the right of the people to have the deliberate and voluntary contract on the right to overthrow the
kings and rulers against corrupt governance to organize a new government with common interest for all
the people. Philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau are the main
supporters of this theory.

6. Historical and Evolutionary Theory

The Historical or Evolutionary theory explains that “the state is the product of growth, a slow and steady
evolution extending over a long period of time and ultimately shaping itself into the complex structure of a
modern state.” This theory is more scientific.

The state is neither the handiwork of God, nor the result of superior physical force, nor the creation of
evolution or convention, nor a mere expansion of the family. The state is not a mere artificial mechanical
creation but an institution of natural growth or historical evolution says professor Garner.

There were a number of factors which helped the evolution of the state. They were kinship, religion, war,
migration economic activities and political consciousness.
a. Kinship- is the most important and was based upon blood relationship and kinship was the first
strongest bond of unity. Family constituted the first link in the process of the evolution of the
state with the expansion of the family arose new families and the multiplication of families led to
the formation of clans and tribes. Kinship was the only factor which bound the people together.
According to Professor Mac Iver, the magic of names 'reinforced the sense of kinship, as the
course of generations enlarged the group. The blood bond of sonship changed imperceptibly
into the social bond of the wider brotherhood. The authority of the father passes into the power
of the chief once more under the aegis of kinship new forms arise which transcend it. Kinship
creates society and society at length creates the state'.
b. Religion- provided the bond of unity in early society. It also affected all walks of life. The
worship of a common ancestor and common goods created a sense of social solidarity. There
was fear in the hearts of men as far as religion was concerned. Even today we see religious
practices, affairs and faith in uniting people. In the early days a number of races are united by
religion and unity was essential for the creation of state.
c. Force- also played an important part in the evolution of the state. It was the use of physical
force that was responsible for the growth of kingdoms and empires.
 d. Property and Defense- played a vital role in the evolution of state in ancient times particularly
among the people who were nomads and vagabonds and tribes. Prof. Laski has referred to the
necessity of acquiring property by the members of society and protecting the property acquired
with reference to the population mentioned above. This led to making adjustments in the social
system and relationship between the members of different groups. The need to protect property
ultimately compelled the ancient people to establish the state.
e. Political consciousness- arising from the fundamental needs of life for protection and order.
When the people settle down on a definite territory in pursuit of their, subsistence and a desire
to secure it from encroachment by others. The need for regulating things and persons is felt
imminently and this is the essence of political consciousness.

In conclusion, it is apparent that many factors helped the growth of the state. No single factor
alone was responsible for its origin. Sometimes all and sometimes many of them help the
process by which uncivilized society was transformed into a state. Of all the theories which seek
to explain the origin of the states, the evolutionary theory is the most satisfactory. It should be
noted that no theory pin-points the time at which the state originated as a consequence of many
factors working in union at different times.

D. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATE AND NATION

By definition, State is a community of persons occupying a definite territory, have government of their
own, and enjoying freedom from external control, while a nation A is society of inhabitants of a specific
geographic region united and bound together by a common racial ancestry, the same language and
culture, historical past, laws and a shared interests and sentiments over the passing of many years.

State Distinguished from Nation. Nation should not be confused with state for they are not the same.
a. The state is a political concept, while nation is an ethnic or racial concept.
b. A state is not subject to external control while a nation may or may not be independent of external
control.
c. A state cannot become a state without a nation or nations that consists its people. On the other
hand, a nation is a nation whether or not a state exists.
d. A single state may consist of one or more nations or peoples and conversely, a single nation may
be made up of different states. The United States is a melting pot of several nationalities. On the
other hand, the Arab Nation is divided politically into several foreign states. The Philippines is a
state composed of one nation.

E. INHERENT POWERS OF THE STATE

1. Police power is the power of government to enforce obedience from the people in the promotion of
public health, morals, or safety, and the general well-being of the community. It is the inherent power of
government to enact and enforce laws for the promotion of general welfare.

2. Power of Eminent Domain is the power possessed by the state over all property within the state,
specifically its power to appropriate property for a public purpose. This is the power of the state to take
private property for public use with just compensation.

3. Power of Taxation is the inherent power of the sovereign, exercised through the legislature, to impose
burdens upon subjects and objects within its jurisdiction for the purpose of raising revenues to carry out
the legitimate objects of the government.