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Political Science Class 11 (Fundamental Concepts)

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488 views

Political Science Class 11 (Fundamental Concepts)

Uploaded by

rdhinojwala
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE

CLASS 11 ISC

NOTES ON FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

State : Meaning & Definition:


The word ‘State ’ has been derived from a Latin word ‘Status ’ which means a
particular social position.
State is an association of families & villages having for its end a happy and
prosperous living.
The state is a politically organised people of a definite territory.
State is a territorial society divided into governments and subjects.

Elements of State
1. Population
2. Territory
3. Government
4. Sovereignty

1. POPULATION
State is a community of persons. It is a human political institution; without a
population there can be no state.

2. TERRITORY
State is a territorial unit as entity. A state to exist it needs a definite territory.
The size of the territory of a state can be big or small; nevertheless it has to be
a definite and well-marked portion of territory.

3. GOVERNMENT
- Government is a political organization, through which laws are made,
implemented, enforced and adjudicated.
1. Each government has three organs: (1) Legislature which performs the
rule-making function; (2) Executive which performs the rule-application
function; (3) Judiciary which performs the rule-adjudication functions.

4. SOVEREIGNTY
- Sovereignty means supreme power of the State. Sovereignty provides the
basis on which the state regulates all aspects of the life of the people who live
on its territory.
It has two dimensions
(i) Internal Sovereignty: It means the power of the State to order & regulate the
activities of the people, groups & institutions that are working within its
territory.
(ii) External Sovereignty: It means the equal freedom of the State to participate
in the activities of the community of nations and to have its own foreign
policy.

→ Differences between State & Government

1. Government is only an element of the State. A State has four elements


(Population, Government, Territory, Sovereignty). Government is only an
element of the State.

2. Government is an Agency of the State. It is that agency of the State that


formulates the will of the State into laws.

3. State is Abstract; Government is Concrete. State is a name which is used to


denote a community of persons living on a definite territory whereas
Government is made by the people of the State. It can be seen as a team of
people exercising the powers of the State.

4. Sovereignty belongs to the State and not Government. Sovereignty is the


hallmark of the State. The Government exercises power on behalf of the State.

5. Territory belongs to the State; State is a territorial entity. The Government


has the responsibility to preserve, protect, and defend the territory of the State.

6. State is permanent; Government is temporary. After every election, new


government is formed. State is permanent. It continuously lives so long as it
continuously enjoys sovereignty.

Differences between State and Nation.

1. The elements of the State and Nation are different: Population, Government,
Territory & Sovereignty are the elements of the state. The elements of the
Nation are common territory, common race, common religion, common
language, common history, common culture.

2. State is a Political Organization while Nation is a Human Unity. The State is


a political organization which fulfills the needs of people. Whereas nation is a
large united large unit of population.
3. Definite territory is essential for the State but not for a nation. Territory is a
physical element of the State thus it is essential. On the other hand Nation can
survive even without a fixed territory.

4. Nation can be wider than the State. The State is limited to a fixed territory.
However, a nation may or may not remain bound within a fixed territory.

5. A Nation is more stable than the state: when sovereignty ends, the State
dies, but not the nation. A nation can survive even without sovereignty.

6. The State uses Police power, while the Nation has a spiritual power: the
State has a police power but a Nation doesn’t. It is backed by emotional,
spiritual and moral power.

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