The State: meaning, nature and elements

Political Science - Theory and Thoughts · Unit I · Topic 2 of 17 · 6 min read

Definitions of the State, its four elements, and how the State differs from society, government, association and nation.

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On this page

1. Meaning and definitions
2. Nature of the State
3. The four elements
4. State and society
5. State and government
6. State and association
7. State and nation (brief)
How this is examined

Cases checked to exist. Read the judgment before quoting a holding.

Every case cited here has been checked to exist — the citation resolves and names the right parties. The propositions attributed to each case have not been verified line by line against the judgment. Case names link through to the full judgment: read it before quoting a holding in an examination answer, and never carry a proposition from notes into court on trust.

The examinable core. Garner’s definition, the four elements (population, territory, government, sovereignty) and the distinctions between the State and society, government and association. The distinctions are set as 6-mark short answers; the elements as a 10- or 16-mark essay.

1. Meaning and definitions

In ordinary speech “state” is used loosely for a province (Karnataka is a State of the Union) or for the government. In political science the State means a politically organised people occupying a definite territory, with a government and independence from outside control. The modern word comes from the Italian lo stato, which Machiavelli used in The Prince.

Aristotle: a union of families and villages having for its end a perfect and self-sufficing life.
Woodrow Wilson: a people organised for law within a definite territory.
Bluntschli: the politically organised people of a definite territory.
Laski: a territorial society divided into government and subjects, whose claim, within its allotted physical area, is a supremacy over all other institutions.
Max Weber: a human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.
Garner (the standard one to quote in full): the State is “a community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, independent, or nearly so, of external control, and possessing an organised government to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.”

Garner’s definition contains all four elements, which is why it is used to open an answer on elements.

2. Nature of the State

Writers explain the nature of the State through rival theories. A short paragraph on each is enough.

Organic theory (Herbert Spencer, Bluntschli): the State is like a living body; individuals are its cells. Leads to the subordination of the individual.
Idealist theory (Hegel, T.H. Green, Bosanquet): the State is the highest expression of the moral life of a community. Hegel called it the march of God on earth.
Mechanistic or instrumental view (liberals): the State is an instrument made by individuals for their own purposes.
Marxist view: the State is an instrument of class domination that will wither away (see the note on Marxism).

3. The four elements

Population. There is no State without people. No fixed size is required: Plato fixed the ideal at 5,040 citizens, Aristotle wanted a number neither too small to be self-sufficient nor too large to be governed well. Today the range runs from India, the most populous State, to Vatican City. Quality matters as well as numbers: an educated, united population makes a stronger State.
Territory. A definite area of land, with the inland waters, the territorial sea (12 nautical miles under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982) and the air space above. Nomadic tribes without settled territory are not States. Size again varies.
Government. The agency through which the will of the State is formed, expressed and carried out. It has three organs: legislature, executive and judiciary. Its form may vary (monarchy, democracy, dictatorship); some government is essential.
Sovereignty. Supreme power, internally over all persons and associations, and externally freedom from control by other States. It is the element that distinguishes the State from every other association. India before 15 August 1947 had population, territory and a government, but not sovereignty, and so was not a State.

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, 1933, gives the international law version: permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter into relations with other States. Some writers add international recognition as a fifth element; most treat it as evidence of statehood rather than an element.

4. State and society

State	Society
Politically organised part of society	The whole web of social relationships
Needs a definite territory	Not tied to territory (a religious community spans countries)
Has sovereignty and coercive power; enforces law	Works by custom, persuasion and social pressure
Came later in history	Older than the State
Regulates the outward conduct of man	Touches every side of life, inner and outer

MacIver summed it up: the State is an association within society, not identical with it. Idealists like Hegel tended to merge the two; liberals and pluralists insist on keeping them apart, since that is what leaves room for individual liberty.

5. State and government

Government is one element of the State; the State is the whole.
The State is permanent; governments change (after every election in a democracy).
The State is abstract; government is concrete, made up of persons.
Sovereignty belongs to the State; government exercises it on the State’s behalf.
All States have the same four elements; governments take many forms.
A citizen may oppose the government without being disloyal to the State.

6. State and association

An association is a group organised to pursue a common interest: a trade union, a club, a church, a company. The State differs from all of them.

Membership of the State is compulsory; of an association, voluntary.
Territory: the State needs a fixed territory; associations need not have one.
Sovereignty: only the State has it; associations work within its laws.
Coercion: the State can imprison or impose the death penalty; an association can only fine or expel.
Purpose: associations have limited, specific aims; the State has general aims covering the whole community.
Permanence: the State is permanent; associations may be temporary.
Number: a person belongs to one State, but to many associations.

Pluralist objection. Laski, MacIver and Figgis argued that the State is only one association among many, chosen to coordinate the others, and should not claim absolute supremacy. Mention it in one line at the end of a State-and-association answer: it shows the examiner you know the distinction is contested.

7. State and nation (brief)

A nation is a people bound by a sense of unity (common history, language, culture); a State is a legal and political unit. A nation may exist without a State (the Kurds), and a State may contain many nationalities (India, the former USSR). When the two coincide we speak of a nation-State.

How this is examined

January 2026 (80-mark): “Define and explain the meaning of the state. Discuss the elements of the state” (10 marks) and “How is a state different from other associations?” (6 marks). June 2025: “State the difference between State and Society” (6 marks). January 2025 (100-mark): “State and its elements” (10-mark compulsory option) and “State and Society” as a short note. Open with Garner, take each element with an example, and for the distinction questions use a two-column table followed by one paragraph of explanation.

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