state
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What is a state in political terms?
In political terms, a state is a form of human association distinguished from other social groups. Its purpose is to establish order and security using laws, which it enforces within its jurisdiction or geographic boundaries. A state is a political organization of society, or the body politic.
The accepted criteria of statehood include a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to conduct international relations. States possess rights and obligations automatically. A state may comprise one or more nations, and is often called a nation-state.
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What makes a state 'sovereign'?
A sovereign state possesses ultimate authority in its decision-making and maintenance of order. It has independent authority and the right to govern itself. Synonyms of sovereignty are autonomy, independence, and freedom.
Sovereignty is confined to a defined territory, protected by international law, and subject to the state's exclusive jurisdiction. States can acquire territory through cession, occupation, or prescription. A sovereign state also has the power to regulate its economic life without regard for possible repercussions in other states.
However, this power is not unlimited. States have accepted laws that restrict their right to act as they please.
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What are the main features of a sovereign state?
A sovereign state is a political entity with supreme authority within its territorial boundaries. The Montevideo Convention in 1933 established the most widely accepted criteria for statehood, which include a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to conduct international relations.
Sovereignty means that the state possesses the ultimate authority in decision-making and maintenance of order. It has the right to govern itself independently without external interference. The state's sovereignty is confined to a defined territory, over which it has exclusive jurisdiction, protected by international law from violation by other states. The ability to maintain itself is key, including defense against external threats and preservation of internal order.
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How do states interact with each other in the world?
States interact through international law, diplomacy, and agreements, but these interactions are influenced by each state's sovereignty. International law offers guidelines and mechanisms for these interactions, though it lacks a comprehensive enforcement system. Diplomacy, involving negotiation and communication, is key to managing relations, with conferences and summits addressing global issues.
International agreements, such as treaties, allow states to regulate shared concerns, establish international organizations, and foster cooperation. However, factors like ethnic conflict, economic disparities, and internal instability can affect these interactions, sometimes leading to tension and disputes. Despite the aim for cooperation, states often prioritize their interests, leading to challenges in achieving universal integration and adherence to international norms.
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What is the role of a government in a sovereign state?
A government in a sovereign state has the role of organizing power in society. It secures the right to life, safety, and self-preservation for its citizens, as well as protecting them from external threats by maintaining armed forces.
The government participates in the economy, provides services, and promotes economic activities. It also preserves authority through communication, administration, and policing, while strengthening citizen attachment to the regime through civic education.
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How do new sovereign states form or gain recognition?
The creation of new sovereign states involves both factual conditions and adherence to legal rules. The Montevideo Convention (1933) specifies that a state should have a permanent population, defined territory, a government, and the capacity to conduct international relations.
Recognition of a state is a political process where other countries acknowledge a new entity as a member of the international community. This recognition is evidence that the criteria for statehood have been met. A large number of recognitions can support a claim to statehood, even if the conditions are not perfectly fulfilled.
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state, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government. The state is a form of human association distinguished from other social groups by its purpose, the establishment of order and security; its methods, the laws and their enforcement; its territory, the area of jurisdiction or geographic boundaries; and finally by its sovereignty. The state consists, most broadly, of the agreement of the individuals on the means whereby disputes are settled in the form of laws. In such countries as the United States, Australia, Nigeria, Mexico, and Brazil, the term state (or a cognate) also refers to political units that are not sovereign themselves but subject to the authority of the larger state, or federal union.
Historical conceptions
Greek and Roman precedents
The history of the Western state begins in ancient Greece. Plato and Aristotle wrote of the polis, or city-state, as an ideal form of association, in which the whole community’s religious, cultural, political, and economic needs could be satisfied. This city-state, characterized primarily by its self-sufficiency, was seen by Aristotle as the means of developing morality in the human character. The Greek idea corresponds more accurately to the modern concept of the nation—i.e., a population of a fixed area that shares a common language, culture, and history—whereas the Roman res publica, or commonwealth, is more similar to the modern concept of the state. The res publica was a legal system whose jurisdiction extended to all Roman citizens, securing their rights and determining their responsibilities. With the fragmentation of the Roman system, the question of authority and the need for order and security led to a long period of struggle between the warring feudal lords of Europe.
Machiavelli and Bodin
It was not until the 16th century that the modern concept of the state emerged, in the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli (Italy) and Jean Bodin (France), as the centralizing force whereby stability might be regained. In The Prince, Machiavelli gave prime importance to the durability of government, sweeping aside all moral considerations and focusing instead on the strength—the vitality, courage, and independence—of the ruler. For Bodin, his contemporary, power was not sufficient in itself to create a sovereign; rule must comply with morality to be durable, and it must have continuity—i.e., a means of establishing succession. Bodin’s theory was the forerunner of the 17th-century doctrine known as the divine right of kings, whereby monarchy became the predominate form of government in Europe. It created a climate for the ideas of the 17th-century reformers like John Locke in England and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France, who began to reexamine the origins and purposes of the state.
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Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
For Locke and Rousseau, as well as for Locke’s English predecessor Thomas Hobbes, the state reflected the nature of the human beings who created it. The “natural condition” of man, said Hobbes, is self-seeking and competitive. Man subjects himself to the rule of the state as the only means of self-preservation whereby he can escape the brutish cycle of mutual destruction that is otherwise the result of his contact with others.
For Locke, the human condition is not so gloomy, but the state again springs from the need for protection—in this case, of inherent rights. Locke said that the state is the social contract by which individuals 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 liberty.”
Rousseau’s ideas reflect an attitude far more positive in respect of human nature than either Hobbes or Locke. Rather than the right of a monarch to rule, Rousseau proposed that the state owed its authority to the general will of the governed. For him, the nation itself is sovereign, and the law is none other than the will of the people as a whole. Influenced by Plato, Rousseau recognized the state as the environment for the moral development of humanity. Man, though corrupted by his civilization, remained basically good and therefore capable of assuming the moral position of aiming at the general welfare. Because the result of aiming at individual purposes is disagreement, a healthy (noncorrupting) state can exist only when the common good is recognized as the goal.