STATE is taken from the Latin word stare meaning to stand.

It is a
political community that has sovereign jurisdiction over a clearly defined
territory, and exercises authority through several institutions, including the
government. It is also defined as a self-governing entity. The term state can
be used interchangeably with the country.

a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one

government.
"Germany, Italy, and other European states"

5 Features of a State (Heywood, 2013):

> The state is sovereign. It exercises absolute power. Thomas Hobbes
identified the state as a “leviathan”.
 State institutions are public.
 The state is an exercise in legitimation.
 The state is an instrument of domination. State authority is
backed up by coercion. For Max Weber, the state was defined by its
monopoly of the means of “legitimate violence”.
 The state is a territorial association.

Elements of the State

1. People – the organization of human beings living together as a

community. Also known as population or inhabitants.
2. Territory – refers to the land, sea, and airspace the state exercises
jurisdiction on.
3. Sovereignty – refers to supreme and absolute power within its territorial
boundaries.

Types of Sovereignty

1. Internal is the power of the state to rule within its territory.

2. External is the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without
subjection to or control by other states.
Characteristics of Sovereignty
- Is absolute from the legal point of view
- Is permanent
- Sovereignty of the state is universal
- Is inalienable
- Cannot be divided between or shared by a plurality
- Is exclusive
4. Government – refers to the institution or agency or instrumentalities
through which the state maintains social order, provide
public services, and enforces binding decisions.

Forms of Government

1. According to Distribution of Power

a. Unitary. Government power is held by one central authority.
Ex. Philippines, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Peru, Rwanda
b. Confederation. It is a voluntary association of independent states
that
often only delegate a few powers to the central government. Weak or
loose organization of states agrees to follow a powerful central government.
Ex. The Commonwealth of Independent State (CIS) formerly known
as
Soviet Union, Switzerland’s canton system.
c. Federal. Government power is divided between one central and
several
regional authorities.
Ex. Malaysia, USA, Nigeria, Australia

2. According to Citizen participation

a. Autocracy. Form of government wherein one person possesses
unlimited power. The citizen has limited, if any, role in the government. The
leader is from a family or from a social class or from a strong party.

Forms of Autocratic Government

1. Absolute or Totalitarian Dictatorship. The ideas of a single leader
glorified. Government tries to control all aspect of social and economic life.
The government is not responsible to the people. Thus, the people lack the
power to limit their rulers.
Ex. Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin
2. Absolute Monarchy. The king, queen or emperor exercises the
supreme and unlimited powers of government wherein the position is
usually
inherited. Absolute monarch rules by divine right are rare today but from the
1400s to the 1700s they ruled most of Western Europe.
Ex. King of Saudi Arabia
(The counterpart of absolute monarchy is limited monarchy wherein the ruler
has a limited power as mandated by the constitution.)

b. Oligarchy. It is the government by the few. Sometimes a small

group exercises control, especially for corrupt and selfish purposes. The
group gets its power from military power, wealth, religion, or a combination.
In here, the citizen has a very limited role. Thus, political opposition is
usually suppressed-sometimes violently.
Ex. Communist countries such as China. Leaders in the party and
armed forces control government.
 c. Democracy. It is a government base on the consent of the
governed. The people are the sovereign, thus, they hold the highest political
authority. Citizens have freedom to criticize their leaders because they are
the one who elected them in the position. People have a high degree of
participation in every government processes.
Democracy has two forms: Indirect democracy or representative
democracy is a form of democratic government wherein the people directly
elect their leader who will govern the and perform governmental functions;
and Direct democracy is a form of government wherein the people will
convene in a mass assembly and directly formulate and expressed will of the
state.

3. According to Legitimacy
a. De jure. It is a form of government wherein it has the people’s support
and possess constitutional mandate. Therefore, it is a legitimate government.
b. De facto. It is a form of government supported by the people but no
constitutional mandate or legal support.

4. According to Executive and Legislative Relationship

a. Presidential. A form of government in which executive branch exists
separately from the legislative. The president is constitutionally independent
of the legislature because they are elected directly by the people.
b. Parliamentary. A form of government in which members of an
executive branch (the cabinet and its leader – a prime minister, premier, or
chancellor) are nominated to their positions by a legislature or parliament,
and are directly responsible to it.

Types of States (based on strength)

Characteristics
control and tax entire territory
ensure laws are obeyed
corruption is minor
Effective
tend to be better off
Ex. US, Japan, Western Europe

crime penetrates politics

government unable to fight lawlessness, corruption,
breakaway movements
justice is bought
Weak
election often rigged
most revenue disappears into private pockets
Ex. Mexico, Nigeria, Latin America

No real national government with little if any control of

territory
Warlords and criminal cartels free to do what they
Failed want
Threatened with territorial breakup
Ex. Afghanistan, Somalia
An Independent State
 Has space or territory which has internationally recognized
boundaries (boundary dispute are okay)
 Has people who live there on an ongoing basis.
 Has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates
foreign trade and domestic trade and issue money.
 Has the power of social engineering, such as education.
 Has transportation system for moving goods or services.
 Has a government which provided public services and police power.
 Has sovereignty. No other state should have power over the country’s
territory.
 Has externa recognition. A country has been “voted into the club” by
other countries.

Origin of the State

1. The theory of Divine Origin - This is the oldest among the origin of the
state. It stated about the right of kings. The formal statement of this theory
is the that the state has been established by and ordinates of God; its rulers
divinely appointed; they are accountable to no authority but God, as
described in Bible.

2. Social Contract Theory – The Divine Theory established the “Divine

Right” of kings. In contradiction, the social contract theory emphasized that
the state was not the creation of God but it was the result of agreement
entered into by men who originally had no government organization.In the
16th and 17th century, the Social Contract Theory gained popularity. Social
Contract Theory raised to peak in the hands of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679),
John Locke (1632-1704) and Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1978).

Thomas Hobbles John Locke Jean-Jacques

Rousseau
 Men live in a  Man sought  Good person was
primitive society peace and corrupted
where there is preservation of  Society is ruled
war “of every all humanity by greed, lust and
man, against  Man produce a violence
every man.” standing rule to  Nation-state got
 Man’s life was live by worse
solitary, poor,  Man entered into  Called for the
nasty, brutish contract to government of the
and short assure safety citizen to meet
 Out of this and peace that and discuss
condition the life, liberty, and difficulties
State was born property may be  Consensus knew
 To escape this enjoyed to the as the General
cruel reality, fullest will
men would give  The contract is
up some freedom two-way
to the state; in
 return, the
government
(state) would
offer people
security through
law & order

3. Force Theory – The exponent of the force theory was of the view that the
origin of state and its development was based on force, that is, force used by
the strong over the weak and their consequent control over them. In such a
way, wherever the strong group out did the weak the strong became the
master and ruled the weak. States emerged from the conquest of other
families or tribes.

4. Evolution Theory – States evolved from family units. The families grew
into a large extended family that heads of the family served as a government.
eventually evolved into tribal councils with a hierarchy of authority.

Inherent Power of the State

1. Police Power – power of the state to regulate freedoms and property right
of individuals for the protection of public safety, health, and morals or the
promotion of the public convenience and general prosperity. This is because
the welfare of the people is the supreme law.

2. Eminent Domain or Power of Expropriation – power to take private

property for public use upon payment of just compensation. It is exercised
through national or local government and private persons or corporations
authorized to exercise functions of public character.

3. Taxation – power to impose tax on individuals and properties to support

the government.
 Tax – lifeblood of government
 Uniform Taxation – persons or things belonging to the same class
shall be taxed at the same rate.
 Equitable taxation – tax burden must be imposed according to the
taxpayers’ capacity to pay.
 Progressive taxation – as the resources of the taxpayer becomes
higher his rates likewise increase