WEEK 2: THE STATE
agency in a society that is authorized to exercise
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
A. DEFINITION OF STATE
The modern term “state” is derived from the word “status”. It was
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) who first used the term “state” in
his writings. His significant work is titled as “Prince”.
The state is the most universal and most powerful of all
institutions. The state is a natural institution.
A state is a community of persons, more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, having a
government of their own to which the great body of inhabitants
render habitual obedience, and enjoying freedom from external
control.
State has been also been defined variously by political thinkers.
Some of the definitions are the following:
 “State is a numerous assemblage of human beings,
generally occupying a certain territory among whom the
will of the majority or of an ascertainable class of persons
is by the strength of such a majority made to prevail
against any of their members who oppose it.” -Alisha
Holland, Harvard University Professor
 “State is a particular portion of mankind viewed as an
organized unit.” -John William Burgess, (1844–1931)
American political theorist, historian, and university dean.
 “State is a people organized for law within a definite
territory.” -Former US Pres. Woodrow Wilson (1913-
1921)
 “State is a territorial society divided into government and
subjects claiming within its allotted physical area a
supremacy over all other institutions.” -Prof. Harold
Joseph Laski (1893-1950) British political scientist,
educator and Labor leader.
 “State is a union of families and villages having for its
end a perfect and self-sufficing life by which we mean a
happy and honorable life.” -Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Greek philosopher and polymath.
 “The marks of an independent state are that the
community constituting it is permanently established for a
political end, that it possesses a defined territory and that
it is independent of external control.” – Arnold Bennett
Hall (1881–1936) American educator, political scientist.
 “The state as a concept of political science and public
law, is a community of persons more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a definite portion of territory,
independent, or nearly so, of external control possessing
an organized government to which the great body of
inhabitants render habitual obedience.”-James Wilford
Garner (1871-1938) American professor of Political
Science.
 “The state is an association which, acting through law as
promulgated by a government endowed to this end with
coercive power, maintains within a community territorially
demarcated the universal external conditions of social
order.”- Robert M. Maclver, Scottish-American
sociologist, a humanist, and political scientist (1882-
1970)
 According to William F. Ogburn, an American
sociologist, a state “is an organization which rules by
means of a supreme government over a definite
territory.”
 According to Max Weber, a German sociologist,
historian, jurist, and political economist (1864-1920),
“The state is an association that claims the monopoly of
the legitimate use of violence.”
 According to Anderson and Parker, “A state is that
coercive control within a given territory.”
From the foregoing definitions, we can deduce that the State has
four essential elements: a) People, b) Government, c) Territory,
and d) Sovereignty.
B. ELEMENTS OF THE STATE
1. People/Population
People refers to the mass of population living within the
state. “People” answers the question, “who governs
whom?”
According to Plato, there is no specific number
requirement; “…the state shall neither be too small nor
yet one that seems great but has no unity.” Aristotle, on
the other hand, says “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.”
2. Territory
Territory is the demarcated area that rightly belongs to
the population. “Territory” answers the question,
“where?” It is a definite portion of the surface of the earth
which is the subject of the jurisdiction and sovereign
rights of a state in accordance with the international law.
There can be no state without a fixed territory. People
need territory to live and organize themselves socially
and politically. Territory refers to the terrestrial (land),
fluvial/maritime (water), and aerial (air-space) domains.
The territorial domains are: a. terrestrial (land) b. fluvial
(water) which includes maritime and c. aerial (air). It
consists the land within its boundaries, the air space
above the land, the inland waters and all the natural
resources therein, and the sea beyond the state’s
coastlines, including its seabed and subsoil. In the case
of archipelagic states this territorial sea stretches to 12
miles (19kms) from the coastlines to the open sea.
As in the case of the population, there is no definite size
with regard to the extent of area of the state to be fixed.
There are large and small states. However, territory
should be permanent and large enough to be self-
sufficing. Vatican is the smallest with a total land area of
0.44 km2; Russia is the largest with 17,098,242 km2
3. Government
There can be no state without government. Government
is the agency to which the will of the state is formulated,
expressed, and carried out. It is an institution or
aggregate of institutions by which an independent society
makes and carries out those rules of action necessary to
enable men to live in a social state, or that which are
imposed upon the people by those who possess the
power or authority of prescribing them.
4. Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the supreme power of the state to
command and enforce obedience its will from the people
within its jurisdiction, and corollarily, to have freedom
from foreign control.
The word “sovereignty” means supreme and final legal
authority above and beyond which no legal power exists.
Sovereignty has two aspects: 1) Internal sovereignty
which means that the State is supreme over all its
citizens, and associations; 2) External sovereignty which
 means that the state is independent and free from foreign Social contract theory asserts that the early states must
or outside control. have been formed by deliberate and voluntary compact
among the people to form a society and organize
C. THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE STATE government for their common good.
This theory justifies the right of the people to revolt
There are several theories that attempt to explain the origin of the against a bad ruler.
state, but no single theory offers an adequate explanation. These
theories have been formed and developed as a result of the This is the right of the people to have the deliberate and
political thought and philosophy in the ancient time until the voluntary contract on the right to overthrow the kings and
Enlightenment period in Europe. rulers against corrupt governance to organize a new
government with common interest for all the people.
1. Divine Right Theory
Philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean
The Divine Right Theory holds that the state is of divine
Jacques Rousseau are the main supporters of this
creation and the ruler is ordained by God to govern the
theory.
people. Reference has been made by advocates of this
theory to the laws which Moses received at Mount Sinai.
6. Historical and Evolutionary Theory
The Historical or Evolutionary theory explains that “the
The rulers of the past advocated the political dominance
state is the product of growth, a slow and steady
of authority and power through their own ordained
evolution extending over a long period of time and
mandate that they represented the state as on the basis
ultimately shaping itself into the complex structure of a
of the divine right (as God created the state). It was in
modern state.” This theory is more scientific.
this nature that the divine rights of kings have the
absolute power and influence over their subjects.
The state is neither the handiwork of God, nor the result
of superior physical force, nor the creation of evolution or
This is the oldest theory concerned in the origin of state.
convention, nor a mere expansion of the family. The
According to this theory, state is established and
state is not a mere artificial mechanical creation but an
governed by God himself by agent or vice regent or vicar
institution of natural growth or historical evolution says
of God. The chief exponent of this theory in early times
professor Garner.
were the Jews and supporters were the early church
fathers.
There were a number of factors which helped the
evolution of the state. They were kinship, religion, war,
2. Necessity or Force Theory
migration economic activities and political
Necessity or force theory maintains that the state must
consciousness.
have been created as a product of the existence of the
a. Kinship- is the most important and was
strong and the weak in society, and as a result of their
based upon blood relationship and kinship
struggle against each other wherein those who are
was the first strongest bond of unity. Family
strong are able to dominate and impose their will upon
constituted the first link in the process of the
the weak. The creation of the state through the constant
evolution of the state with the expansion of
war and invasion of the great warriors in the ancient time
the family arose new families and the
dominated the weak and later on formed a state.
multiplication of families led to the formation
of clans and tribes. Kinship was the only
According to this theory, state is the result of the superior
factor which bound the people together.
physical force and subjugation of the weaker section by
According to Professor Mac Iver, the magic of
the stronger. Physical strength was able to overcome
names 'reinforced the sense of kinship, as the
fellow men and to exercise authority over them.
course of generations enlarged the group.
The blood bond of sonship changed
3. Natural or Instinctive Theory
imperceptibly into the social bond of the wider
The Natural or Instinctive Theory holds that the state is
brotherhood. The authority of the father
founded out of man’s natural instinct for association. The
passes into the power of the chief once more
social urge of the human being to be within a group of
under the aegis of kinship new forms arise
people in the community as in sociology describes that
which transcend it. Kinship creates society
“man is a social being.” The social group provides the
and society at length creates the state'.
political development to stay and work together with
b. Religion- provided the bond of unity in early
common goal in the community then later on transforms
society. It also affected all walks of life. The
into a state.
worship of a common ancestor and common
goods created a sense of social solidarity.
4. Patriarchal Theory
There was fear in the hearts of men as far as
The Patriarchal theory attributes the origin of states to
religion was concerned. Even today we see
the enlargement of the family which remained under the
religious practices, affairs and faith in uniting
authority of the father or mother. By natural stages, the
people. In the early days a number of races
family grew into a clan, then developed into a tribe which
are united by religion and unity was essential
broadened into a nation and the nation became a state.
for the creation of state.
c. Force- also played an important part in the
According to MacIver, “Kinship creates society and
evolution of the state. It was the use of
society at length creates the states.”
physical force that was responsible for the
In the process of development of kinship patriarchal and
growth of kingdoms and empires.
matriarchal both societies were experienced and such
d. Property and Defense- played a vital role in
societies contributed in the origin of the state theory
the evolution of state in ancient times
through their authority, military and political and religious
particularly among the people who were
privileges and powers.
nomads and vagabonds and tribes. Prof.
Laski has referred to the necessity of
5. Social Contract Theory
acquiring property by the members of society
 and protecting the property acquired with power to appropriate property for a public purpose. This
reference to the population mentioned above. is the power of the state to take private property for
This led to making adjustments in the social public use with just compensation.
system and relationship between the
members of different groups. The need to 3. Power of Taxation is the inherent power of the
protect property ultimately compelled the sovereign, exercised through the legislature, to impose
ancient people to establish the state. burdens upon subjects and objects within its jurisdiction
e. Political consciousness- arising from the for the purpose of raising revenues to carry out the
fundamental needs of life for protection and legitimate objects of the government.
order. When the people settle down on a
definite territory in pursuit of their,
subsistence and a desire to secure it from
encroachment by others. The need for
regulating things and persons is felt
imminently and this is the essence of political
consciousness.

In conclusion, it is apparent that many factors

helped the growth of the state. No single
factor alone was responsible for its origin.
Sometimes all and sometimes many of them
help the process by which uncivilized society
was transformed into a state. Of all the
theories which seek to explain the origin of
the states, the evolutionary theory is the most
satisfactory. It should be noted that no theory
pin-points the time at which the state
originated as a consequence of many factors
working in union at different times.

D. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATE AND NATION

By definition, State is a community of persons occupying

a definite territory, have government of their own, and
enjoying freedom from external control, while a nation A
is society of inhabitants of a specific geographic region
united and bound together by a common racial ancestry,
the same language and culture, historical past, laws and
a shared interests and sentiments over the passing of
many years.

State Distinguished from Nation. Nation should not be

confused with state for they are not the same.
a. The state is a political concept, while nation is
an ethnic or racial concept.
b. A state is not subject to external control while a
nation may or may not be independent of
external control.
c. A state cannot become a state without a nation
or nations that consists its people. On the other
hand, a nation is a nation whether or not a state
exists.
d. A single state may consist of one or more
nations or peoples and conversely, a single
nation may be made up of different states. The
United States is a melting pot of several
nationalities. On the other hand, the Arab Nation
is divided politically into several foreign states.
The Philippines is a state composed of one
nation.

E. INHERENT POWERS OF THE STATE

1. Police power is the power of government to enforce

obedience from the people in the promotion of public
health, morals, or safety, and the general well-being of
the community. It is the inherent power of government to
enact and enforce laws for the promotion of general
welfare.

2. Power of Eminent Domain is the power possessed by

the state over all property within the state, specifically its