(Long Answer Questions) Describe the elements of state/nation.
Answers
Answer:
1. Introduction to Politics lecturer: Mukhtar Abdalla Nor ( Raakici )
2. UNIT 2 THE STATE AND IT IS ELEMENT • 2.1 Definition • 2.2 Elements • 2.3 State and society • 2.4 State and nation • 2.5 State and Government.
3. INTRODUCTION The modern term “state” is derived from the word “status”. It was Niccolo Machiavelli ( 1469 – 1527) who first used the term “state” in his writings. His important work is titled as “Prince”.
4. Definitions • Definitions : The state is the most universal and most powerful of all social institutions. The state is a natural institution. Aristotle said man is a social animal and by nature he is a political being. To him, to live in the state and to be a man were identical.
5. Definitions The state is the highest form of human association. It is necessary because it comes into existence out of the basic needs of life. It continues to remain for the sake of good life To Woodrow Wilson, “State is a people organized for law within a definite territory.” Aristotle defined the state as a “union of families and villages having for its end a perfect and self – sufficing life by which it meant a happy and good life”. Burgess defines the state as “a particular portion of mankind viewed as an organized unit.”
6. Definitions According to Sidgwick. “State is a combination or association of persons in the form of government and governed and united together into a politically organized people of a definite territory.” According to Garner, “State is a community of people live in a definite form of territory free of external control and possessing an organized government to which people show habitual agreement.” Prof. Laski defines “state as a territorial society divided into government and subjects whose relationships are determined by the exercise of supreme coercive power.”
7. THE ELEMENTS OF STATE From the above definitions, it is clear that the following are the elements of the state :- Physical bases of the State 1. Population 2. Territory Political bases of the State 1. Government 2. Sovereignty
8. THE ELEMENTS OF STATE Population Territory Government Sovereignty Population It is the people who make the state. Population is essential for the state. Greek thinkers were of the view that the population should neither be too big nor too small. According to Plato the ideal number would be 5040. According to Aristotle, 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.
9. THE ELEMENTS OF STATE Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle thinking on the number was based on small city – states like Athens and Sparta. Modern states vary in population. India has a population of 102,70,15,247 people according to 2001 census.
10. THE ELEMENTS OF STATE Territory There can be no state without a fixed territory. People need territory to live and organize themselves socially and politically. It may be remembered that the territory of the state includes land, water and air – space. The modern states differ in their sizes. Territory is necessary for citizenship. As in the case of population, no definite size with regard to extent of area of the state can be fixed. There are small and big states