State & nation: Element &

Characteristics of state & nation

CONCEPT OF STATE

The central concern of political science is the state. It is a

natural institution because it is rooted in the reality of human
nature. The state is also a necessary institution because it is the
means through which people can meet their necessities of life
and strive for good life.

DEFINATION OF STATE

A systematic treatment of the nature of state began with the

Greek philosophers. Man, Aristotle remarked, “is by nature a
political being; it is his nature to live in a polis” wherein alone
he could attain his highest moral nature. The state for Plato, as
for Aristotle, existed for the purpose of seeking common good
and moral perfection. To them, state was not merely a political
association but it also served a religious community and
socializing agency. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527 A.D.),
viewed the man as a self-interested creature who has “perpetual
and restless desire for power after power the ceases only in
death.” For Marx, the state is the product of class
contradictions and class struggle and is controlled by
economical dominant class. To Max Weber, the state is a
“human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of
the legitimate use of physical violence in a given territory”.
Robert Dahl, influenced by Weber, viewed the state as a
collection of individuals occupying role positions and acting as a
group of govern. Giddens defines the state as “a political
organization whose rule is territorially ordered and which is able
to mobilize the means of violence to sustain that rule.

ELEMENT OF STATE
 Population
 Territory
 Government
 Sovereignty

DEFINITION OF NATION

The word “nation” is derived from the Latin word “nation”

which means born. This gives the term a racial or ethnic
meaning. In its original meaning, it signified the geographical
origin of persons, their birthplace. A group of people may form
a “nation” even in the absence of these objective factors. What is
required for a nation is a sentiment of “belonging together” or
simply like-mindedness. For example, the Swiss constitute a
nation, although they do not speak the same language or profess
a common language. On the other hand, Pakistanis and
Bangladeshis profess the same religion but they claim separate
nationhood.
DEFINITION OF NATION STATE

The word “nation-state” refers to a political institution that

combines the concepts of nation with state. It refers to a state
inhabited by people who identify themselves as a nation because
of sharing culture, history, language, ethnicity or other factors.
The structure of the nation-state system demands the promotion
of its own interests to the exclusion of and, at times, at the cost
of all others while there are cases where languages or religions
tend to coincide with state borders, it is very rare to find nation-
state in its true sense of the term. In Africa and Asia, the two do
not generally coincide. This is due to the fact that the state
boundaries were drawn by the departing colonial powers to suit
their own interests. Thus, many nationalities reside in one state
and inversely one nation has been divided into many states.