The State: Elements, Nature, and Development
The State
State Uses of the Word
The human being is a social being. Companies may be state-run, but also patriarchal and tribal (stateless). This signifies the emergence of the state as one form of political society, beyond the stage of natural society, which is a form of organization that political societies tend towards. There have been societies with independent political, legal, and administrative (executive, legislative, and judicial) bodies. The difference between political societies with a state and those without is that the former has developed a defensive army. The term ‘state’ is used in the sense of people and nation. Louis XIV said: ‘I am the state’.
Early humans lived at the mercy of nature in precarious conditions, leading to the need to associate in small groups with beings of the same species, settling in one place (sedentary), and establishing the first institution (the family).
Over time, other types of companies developed before the state: the band and the tribe, the horde, gens, clan, totem, taboo, and charisma. The word ‘state’ is attributed to Machiavelli, who introduced it in his book The Prince. The state means: the political and legal organization of a people in a given territory and under a power of command, according to reason. Here’s a brief overview of ancient states:
- Egyptian State: 5000 years ago, the state was the pharaoh.
- Greece: High participation of citizens in public affairs. Authority was exercised by several heads, and they recognized the ‘council of elders.’ The state was the place where human life existed. Plato believed that the structure of the state and man is the same. Aristotle declared that the state is prior to man.
- Rome: Here, the state arose from the need to impose central authority on the people.
- France: Louis XIV famously declared: ‘I am the state.’ He exercised absolute power. During the French Revolution, the meaning of the word ‘state’ evolved. It was Machiavelli in the Middle Ages who used the term ‘state.’
The elements of the state are: people, territory, and power. The state is a society (the people), settled permanently in a territory subject to sovereign power, which creates, defines, and applies a legal order for the good of its components. People are a process within a cultural association. Power is the domain of human authority. Territory is the physical element.
The Elements of the State
The state elements are: people, territory, and formal institutions.
State and Formal Institutions of Government
These societies are formed by a people. The people may be subject (in a totalitarian state) or involved and sovereign (in a democratic state). Democracies can be:
- Direct democracy: The people meet and the government adopts measures (there must be a means of representation: aristocratic rule).
- Formal democracy: The people are represented by the government through voting.
- Approved Democracy: There is popular control over government action.
- Unapproved Democracy: There is no popular control.
Democracy, for ‘eutaxia’ (good order), means that alongside the plural relationships that operate freely, the ‘rule of law’ must be ensured.
State and Territory
Society also consists of an area. The territory over which sovereignty is established. The border is a political organization that defines states compared to other states. States need to engage in diplomacy.
State Power and Sovereignty
The third element of the state is reconstructive power. Power is the ability to make decisions and influence oneself and others to act. To do this, one must have ‘force,’ that is, the means to achieve a result, and ‘authority,’ which is the recognized right to employ those means. The word ‘sovereignty’ designates who has the legitimate power. In an absolutist society, the King holds all the power; in an absolute monarchy, the king is above all; in a democracy, sovereignty resides with the people.
The Nature of the State
Humans have evolved from hominid groups to more complex social structures, leading to the constitution of the state. Aristotle defined man as a ‘human being: a rational animal.’ He regarded man as a social being and the state as prior to its constituent parts (families and individuals). Therefore, the state is a creation of nature, and man is a political animal. The modern view of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau holds that before the foundation of every society, there is a primitive man.
State Law. State Society
The legal status can be understood as a mere legal framework, as a state, or as a society (encompassing lifestyle, politics, religion, economics, etc.). The state society can be divided into an organismic state (the state is a living organ composed of individuals, members of the same entity) or a contractual state (the state is a creation of individuals).
Theories of State Development or Contractual Atomism
Social contract theory explains the origin of society not only by associative facts but also and primarily by a ‘social pact’ between families and other entities that form the basic social fabric. The ‘social contract’ is the agreement by which people who want to form a partnership with others establish mutual obligations. This agreement may be express or tacit.
The Historical Origin of Political Society or State: The Myth of Origin
There is a theory of contractualism, which refers to the natural state as a starting point for the advancement of state-building. It posits an ahistorical origin (outside of the state). Socio-naturalistic theory proposes that the origin of political society is God.
The Modern State. Emergence of the Modern State
Increased trade led to a new lifestyle in urban concentrations (boroughs). These were inhabited by the bourgeoisie, who demanded free trade and movement, as well as national justice administration and political representation. The discovery of America was the final step towards the modern state. Modern states emerged in the sixteenth century, such as the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Spain.
Machiavelli (1469-1527)
For Machiavelli, the state is a political form characterized by stability and continuity in the exercise of power. The state is the assumption of power by the prince. The source of the state is achieved with a rational and methodical plan to make the dispersed people act together. The state should be centralized, subordinating religion to the state as an instrument of power. The prince must maintain power without moral and legal limitations. Machiavelli is considered the theorist of ‘political realism.’
Historical and Doctrinal Assumptions of the Absolute State
From the 15th and 16th centuries, political absolutism developed. In England, it appeared with the Tudors. In Spain, with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella (1469). In France, in 1453. In England and France, traders supported the centralization of power, but not in Spain. Political absolutism defends the belief that only a centralized power can control the forces that tend to ‘dissolve’ society. This justification of power creates several problems: The theory of the divine right of kings, new reflections on the nature and basis of political society, the development of national consciousness, new thoughts on natural law, reconsideration of the relationship with the English state, and the development of contract theories. Machiavelli justified absolutism, the central figure of which is the prince. But for Hobbes, the central figure is power itself. The predecessor of Hobbes’s absolutism was Jean Bodin (1530-1596).