Why did Matthew Arnold believe the State should represent the nation’s best self?

In his seminal work Culture and Anarchy, Matthew Arnold argued that the State should represent the nation’s "best self" because he believed no single class in Victorian society could fulfill that role.12

Arnold categorized English society into three distinct groups: the Barbarians (aristocracy), the Philistines (middle class), and the Populace (working class). He observed that each group was limited by its own specific shortcomings—such as the Philistines' lack of "sweetness and light" or the Populace's raw, unrefined state. Because he viewed these classes as inherently partial and prone to "anarchy"—a state of society lacking direction and high standards—he concluded that they could not collectively embody the nation's highest potential.132

Instead, Arnold proposed that the State should function as the true organ and repository of the collective "best self." By rising above the narrow interests and crudeness of individual classes, the State could serve as a unifying force to "make reason and the will of God prevail," thereby guiding the nation toward perfection through culture.12