From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In politics, a state is a country which has control over a geographic area or territory. States have three main features:
- Control over a geographic area, or territory
- A people, the population of the state.
- Institutions which have the power to make laws.
There are different forms of government a state may have, for example a republic or a monarchy. Sometimes states form their own countries. At other times many states work together to form a country (like the United States). Most states also have armed forces, civil service, law and police.
Different definitions[change | change source]
The definition above is very broad. It is based on ideas by Georg Jellinek (1851-1911). Other people had other ideas:
- Max Weber (1864-1920) had another definition: According to him, a state is a community of people which has «the monopoly to legitimately use physical force within a well-defined area».[1]
- Another definition is from political science: A state is a system of public institutions which are there to regulate the issues of a society.
- Some philiospohers, such as Aristotle, Rousseau and Hegel had a moralistic view: In their opinion, a state arises when individuals reach their goals and that of society. According to Hegel, the state is the reason God came into the world; it is the power of reason. This reason manifests as His will.
Because of the different definitions, there’s no universally accepted definition of state. The one given at the start of the article is now part of international law.
History[change | change source]
Early states[change | change source]
The earliest states were just human settlements. A group of farmers and merchants working together could be ‘states’ since people can control them and protect them.
More organized states could be monarchies such as early Egypt under the Pharaoh. Following this were larger more military-based states such as the Babylonian Empire or Roman Empire. The most famous early states, however, were the Ancient Greek city-states. Some of them had democracy.
From military to modern state[change | change source]
When the military-based state, the Roman Empire, fell, lots of little states were made and each was also military-based and controlled by a king. These states did not often work together and war raged. However, once people within the state itself started fighting (what’s called a Civil war), the kings had to make peace and start parliaments.
Modern states[change | change source]
The state’s (government’s) position in the economy
Modern states soon started in the late 15th century. The main states in Europe were:
- England under the Tudors
- Spain under the Habsburg
- France under the Bourbons
- Russia under Catherine the Great and Alexander II of Russia
These states all tried to improve their politics and economy and became more and more like the states today. They formed proper boundaries for their lands and worked with power within the state itself more, such as the Church or the nobility. They made armies, tax systems and embassies all to help make them more powerful and stable.
Different types of state[change | change source]
Types of state can be separated into two categories: democracy and dictatorship. However, just because a group of states are all democratic does not mean that they follow the same rules. Iran, Pakistan, France, Germany and the United States of America are all states. Each of them sees itself as a democracy. Each of them however has a different idea of what democracy really means.
Different states of the same ‘category’ can also function differently. For example, two democratic states may be quite different if one has a well-trained police or army while the other does not. Therefore, the word ‘state’ only tells us what type of government that state follows (democratic or dictatorship) and does not tell us about the country itself.[2]
Sub-categories of state[change | change source]
There are lots of sub-types of state branching off from democracy and dictatorship. The main ones are Pluralism, Marxism and Institutionalism.
Pluralism[change | change source]
Pluralism has been very popular in the United States. It shows the state as a neutral place for settling arguments between other states. Pluralism allows each group of people to tell the state what to do. This type of state is called a polyarchy.[3]
Also in a pluralist state, politics, the military and the economy are all united and work together. This means that all power in the state is ‘diffused’ across the people who live there.
Marxism[change | change source]
Marxism is an ideology advocating for the rights of workers and labourers of society. It was started by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism rejects the idea that a state is there to protect business interest, and is definitely not a neutral place for settling arguments.
The main job of a Marxist state is to protect the labour and financial situation of the peasant classes. With such reforms, a Marxist state focuses on collectivising resources and creating a planned economy to ensure the well-being of the workers.
Both Marxist and Pluralist states have to react to the activities of groups of people in the state itself. Institutionalist states do not see themselves as ‘instruments’ to be controlled, they are more just geographical areas. In this area, the people just form groups themselves. An institutionalist state can be made up of both Marxist and Pluralist people, both which have the power to control themselves and not influence the other parties of the state.[4]
Anarchism[change | change source]
Anarchism is when a group of people have complete freedom and do not believe in having a state at all. Anarchists are a lot like Marxists, but they believe (opposite to Marxists) that a country can work without without a state forcing people to do anything. Law and order are not necessary.
Anarchists (such as Bakunin and Kropotkin in the 19th century), often want a form of Marxism but ignoring some of their rules. They want workers to manage themselves and simply get paid for what they do, rather than getting paid in wages.
[change | change source]
- Country
- Sovereign state
- International relations
- List of sovereign states
- Montevideo Convention
- Nation
- Social contract
- U.S. state
- Unitary state
- Province
- Political economy
- Constitutional economics
- Local government
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Zeno. «Soziologie im Volltext: Max Weber: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Grundriß der verstehenden …» www.zeno.org (in German). Retrieved 2021-03-28.
- ↑ Bobbio, Norberto. 1989. Democracy and Dictatorship: The Nature and Limits of State Power. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816618135.
- ↑ Robert Dahl. 1973. Modern Political Analysis. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0135969816
- ↑ Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Theda Skocpol, and Peter B. Evans, eds. 1985. Bringing the State Back In. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0521313139.
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
the state of being cognitively skillful
the state of being split or cleft
a state that is intermediate between extremes; a middle position
the state of being ornamented
a mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing
a state at a particular time
the state of being conditional
(physics) the lowest energy state of an atom or other particle
the state of being a nation
the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time
a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection)
a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries
the state of living together in tribes
ideally perfect state; especially in its social and political and moral aspects
state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror
a wild primitive state untouched by civilization
the state of being an isomer; the complex of chemical and physical phenomena characteristic of isomers
a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process
(of a government or government official) holding an office means being in power
the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society
the state or fact of existing
the state of not being
the absence of life or state of being dead
the state of being employed or having a job
the state of being unemployed or not having a job
established customary state (especially of society)
a disturbance of the peace or of public order
a state of deep-seated ill-will
a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests
the degree of visibility of your environment
the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints
the state of serving as an official and authorized delegate or agent
the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else
a state of change
a state of no motion or movement
the state of something that has outlived its relevance
the state of being active
the state of being inactive
a state that continues for a limited time
the state of being imminent and liable to happen soon
the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action)
a state of uncertainty about what should be done (usually following some important event) preceding the establishment of a new direction of action
the presence of excess potassium in the circulating blood
the state of being enlarged
the state of lacking unity
the state of being joined or united or linked
state of being mature; full development
not having reached maturity
(Christian theology) a state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under such divine influence
the state of being condemned to eternal punishment in Hell
the state of being omniscient; having infinite knowledge
the state of being omnipotent; having unlimited power
the state of being without a flaw or defect
an undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting
the state or an instance of being imperfect
the state of property that is in the hands of a receiver
the state or fact of being an owner
the state of being obligated to do or pay something
a final state
the state of being cancelled or annulled
the state of being fit for market; ready to be bought or sold
(biology) the normal rigid state of fullness of a cell or blood vessel or capillary resulting from pressure of the contents against the wall or membrane
the state of being homozygous; having two identical alleles of the same gene
the state of being heterozygous; having two different alleles of the same gene
the state resulting when juvenile characteristics are retained by the adults of a species
the state of being plural
(toxicology) the state of being capable of counteracting more than one toxin or antigen or kind of microorganism
(chemistry) the state of having a valence greater than two
the state of being a father
the state of having been made use of
a stable state or level after a period of progress or activity
a state of dysfunction and stagnation, as of a society
the condition or result of being changeable
status in the eyes of others
skillfulness by virtue of possessing special knowledge
skillfulness with the hands
the skillful and effective interaction of movements
having a wide variety of skills
great skillfulness and knowledge of some subject or activity
skillful performance or ability without difficulty
skillfulness in speaking or writing
skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice and familiarity
skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort
the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion
any strong feeling
a persistent illogical feeling of desire or aversion
a feeling of considerable warmth
a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon
deep feeling or emotion
a strong feeling or emotion
tender, romantic, or nostalgic feeling or emotion
(psychoanalysis) a combination of emotions and impulses that have been rejected from awareness but still influence a person’s behavior
mixed feelings or emotions
an absence of emotion or enthusiasm
the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
all of the feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid
a sudden sharp feeling
a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment
a feeling of aversion or antipathy
a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
a lack of gratitude
a feeling of lack of concern
a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt
a feeling of self-respect and personal worth
a humble feeling
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
the feeling of being confounded or overwhelmed
the feeling that something is about to happen
feeling an inappropriate lack of seriousness
a solemn and dignified feeling
sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others)
the feeling of being agitated; not calm
a feeling of calm; an absence of agitation or excitement
feeling no fear
emotions experienced when in a state of well-being
emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being
the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled
the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well
a positive feeling of liking
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish)
a feeling of excitement
a solid bulblike enlargement of the stem of some orchids
the condition of being secured to a base
the general condition of body and mind
a particular functioning condition or arrangement
(ecology) the status of an organism within its environment and community (affecting its survival as a species)
the condition of being noisy (as in a communication channel)
the condition of sharing in common with others (as fellows or partners etc.)
the condition of being prepossessed
the condition of having been made regular (or more regular)
a condition in which a quantity no longer responds to some external influence
the state of being silent (as when no one is speaking)
a condition or position in which you find yourself
the amount and state of snow for skiing
the status or fact of being elected
the condition of having been proposed as a suitable candidate for appointment or election
a situation in which life seems irrational and meaningless
a formal contractual relationship established to provide for regular banking or brokerage or business services
a relationship less intimate than friendship
a social or business relationship
(psychoanalysis) relationship marked by strong dependence on others; especially a libidinal attachment to e.g. a parental figure
the state of being assimilated; people of different backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger national family
the state of being friends (or friendly)
a relationship between two lovers
the state of being a member
the state of being acceptable and accepted
a particular situation that is radically different from the preceding situation
a demanding or stimulating situation
the condition of being without offspring
a situation or condition that is complex or confused
a situation in which people or things are crowded together
loss of equilibrium attributable to an unstable situation in which some forces outweigh others
the situation in which you are happiest and most effective
the totality of surrounding conditions
a stable situation in which forces cancel one another
the state of being excluded
a state of affairs in which you have no privacy
a situation that is ideal for rapid development (especially of something bad)
the state of being included
the situation of being or dying without a legally valid will
a situation treated as an observable object
a prisonlike situation; a place of seeming confinement
the state of being rejected
the actual state of affairs
the situation in which you begin an endeavor and to which you return if your efforts fail
the existing state of affairs
the condition in which a standard has been successfully established
(optics) condition of an optical system (as a lens) in which light rays from a single point converge in a single focal point
(optics) defect in an optical system in which light rays from a single point fail to converge in a single focal point
the condition of being arranged in social strata or classes within a group
the condition of things generally
ascending stages by which somebody or something can progress
the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
the point or degree to which something extends
the final point in a process
a level of material comfort in terms of goods and services available to someone or some group
a level of existence or development
the highest degree of development of an art or technique at a particular time
the state or degree of being ultimate; the final or most extreme in degree or size or time or distance, «the ultimacy of these social values»
the expected or commonplace condition or situation
a condition that accompanies or influences some event or activity
the state or condition of having no home (especially the state of living in the streets)
a special situation
the condition of being reinstated
the power (usually of a president or governor) to pardon or commute the sentence of someone convicted in that jurisdiction
an extraordinary power exercised (usually by the executive branch) in the prosecution of a war and involving an extension of the powers that the government normally has in peacetime
a state of being essentially equal or equivalent; equally balanced
position in a social hierarchy
proper or appropriate position or location
social or financial or professional status or reputation
a position of superior status
a position of superiority over opponents or competitors
a position attracting much attention and publicity
(usually plural) the status or rank or office of a Christian clergyman in an ecclesiastical hierarchy
a position of inferior status; low in station or rank or fortune or estimation
a status defined by law
the status of being born to parents who were not married
the status of being born of a morganatic marriage
a position of highest authority
the status of belonging to a particular nation by birth or naturalization
status with respect to the relations between people or groups
the state of being retired from one’s business or occupation
the state of actually existing objectively
a state of eternal existence believed in some religions to characterize the afterlife
existing in a former state or previous to something else
existing peacefully together
the state of existing in reality; having substance
the state of being present; current existence
the state of not existing
the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living
the condition of living or the state of being alive
euphemism for death (based on an analogy between lying in a bed and in a tomb)
no longer in existence
a characteristic state or mode of living
a state of being or existence above and beyond the limits of material experience
an unmarried status
the condition or quality of being a virgin
the form of government of a social organization
a state of order in which events conform to the law
an untroubled state; free from disturbances
a harmonious state of things in general and of their properties (as of colors and sounds); congruity of parts with one another and with the whole
a stable order (especially of society)
the state prevailing during the absence of war
a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)
an unstable order
disorder resulting from a failure to behave predictably
a state of disorder involving group violence
rowdy behavior
a disorderly outburst or tumult
lack of agreement or harmony
a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally)
feelings of hostility that are not manifest
a state of conflict between persons
a state of conflict between colors
a legal state created by a declaration of war and ended by official declaration during which the international rules of war apply
a state of political hostility between countries using means short of armed warfare
a conflict of people’s opinions or actions or characters
the state of being suspected
having abundant light or illumination
absence of light or illumination
a state or condition of being innocent of a specific crime or offense
the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil
the state of having committed an offense
the freedom of teachers and students to express their ideas in school without religious or political or institutional restrictions
freedom from political subjugation or servitude
freedom to do as you see fit
the removal of constraints
the right of merchant ships to travel freely in international waters
freedom from control or influence of another or others
freedom of choice
one’s freedom to exercise one’s rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country
personal freedom from servitude or confinement or oppression
(Russia) freedom
forced submission to control by others
the condition of being enclosed (as in a capsule)
(sports) the state of a professional athlete who is free to negotiate a contract to play for any team
personal representation that has legal status
the state of needing help from something
the state of relying on something
the state of being subordinate to something
the state of being contingent on something
the condition of having or giving polarity
a shaky motion
motion that continues indefinitely without any external source of energy; impossible in practice because of friction
the motion of a spinning body (as a top) in which it wobbles so that the axis of rotation sweeps out a cone
something that resembles a flowing stream in moving continuously
remaining in place
the state of being in action or exerting power
a harmful or corrupting agency
the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity
the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances
(of volcanos) pouring out fumes or lava (or a deposit so formed)
the state of being in effect or being operative
the state of high or excessive activity or productivity or concentration
a state in which action is feasible
a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
temporary cessation or suspension
inactivity and lack of energy
the state of inactivity following an interruption
an inflexible and unchanging state
temporary inactivity or suspension
a state of inactivity or disuse
a state of quiet (but possibly temporary) inaction
no longer active; extinguished
a state of inaction with no progress and no change
a state of inaction
a state of inactivity (in business or art etc)
inactivity of liquids; being stagnant; standing still; without current or circulation
inactivity resulting from a static balance between opposing forces
a temporary psychological state
temporary loss of strength and energy resulting from hard physical or mental work
the state of being depleted
a temporary state resulting from excessive consumption of alcohol
the state of being sober and not intoxicated by alcohol
a temporary state in which you are unable (or unwilling) to sleep
a very sleepy state
poised for action
condition of heightened watchfulness or preparation for action
a state in which martial law applies
a tense critical situation
the condition or state of the body or bodily functions
the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus
the condition of being folded inward or sheathed
the condition of belonging to a particular place or group by virtue of social or ethnic or cultural lineage
the state of being hyaline or having become hyaline
the state of having become filled with vacuoles
the condition of being protuberant; the condition of bulging out
the condition of a host bacterium that has incorporated a phage into its own genetic material
(medicine) a curving or bending; often abnormal
death of a liveborn infant within the first 28 days of life
sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant during sleep
an abnormal protuberance or localized enlargement
(psychology) a mental condition in which the qualities of a state are relatively constant even though the state itself may be dynamic
a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one’s ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome
the state of being several and distinct
a state of separation between persons or groups
lack of connection or continuity
state of being disconnected
the state of being combined into one body
the state of being connected
the state of being joined together
the state of being connected together as in memory or imagination
the state of being unconnected in memory or imagination
a close and intimate union
the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy)
a condition superior to an earlier condition
a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state
the state (and responsibilities) of a person who has attained maturity
the state of being ripe
early maturity; the state of being young or immature or inexperienced
the state in which women have stopped ovulating
the state of not being ripe
lacking and evidencing lack of experience of life
the state of being premature
in the state that someone is in between puberty and adulthood
the state of a child between infancy and adolescence
the earliest state of immaturity
relative status
social status or position conferred by a system based on class
high office or rank or station
the state of being of noble birth
the status of being ordained to a sacred office
a position of great esteem (and supposed superiority)
the status of a leader
the state of being noble
the state that exists when one person or group has power over another
a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain
the state of being tense and feeling pain
a condition requiring relief
the condition of being filled to capacity
the state of containing nothing
the state of being without clothing or covering of any kind
the condition of being void of hair
the state of being carelessly or partially dressed
(Old Testament) God’s means of destroying sinners
the omniscience of a divine being
the omnipotence of a divine being
someone or something wonderful
a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality
state of perfection; the utmost degree
the state of being unimpaired
the state of being complete and entire; having everything that is needed
the state of being crude and incomplete and imperfect
a flaw or weak point
an imperfection in a plan or theory or legal document that causes it to fail or that reduces its effectiveness
an imperfection in a bodily system
an imperfection in an object or machine
an imperfection in someone or something that is suggestive of a wart (especially in smallness or unattractiveness)
the state of being defective
a wild or unrefined state
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
capability of existing or happening or being true
full of hope
a state in which all hope is lost or absent
being undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material
the condition of being impure
the condition of (corporate or personal) finances
the condition of the economy
an obligation to pay money to another party
the state of sanitation (clean or dirty)
the state of aggregation of soil and its condition for supporting plant growth
a condition of regular or proper arrangement
a condition in which things are not in their expected places
being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning
presence of lactose in the urine; can occur during pregnancy or lactation
the state of the environment
the prevailing psychological state
a particular environment or surrounding influence
the state of not being susceptible
(medicine) the condition in which an organism can resist disease
the condition of being something that is useful in reaching an end or carrying out a plan
the state of being susceptible; easily affected
the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water)
the condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water)
the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions
the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury
the physical condition of being stretched or strained
lack of normal muscular tension or tonus
the condition of being physiologically lax
a formal way of referring to the condition of something
a state or condition free from damage or decay
the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak
the condition of the optical properties of the eye
a condition of damage or decay
the condition of being improper
absence of moral or spiritual values
a condition of spiritual awareness; divine illumination
any unwholesome or desperate condition
the state of being purchasable; offered or exhibited for selling
the most severe stage of a disease
the condition of being serrated
the condition of being amphidiploid
the condition of being diploid
the condition of being haploid
the condition of being heteroploid
the condition of being polyploid
the condition in which an organism has two or more cell populations that differ in genetic makeup
the condition of being a child without living parents
the condition of having or being marked by stigmata
condition in which a person assumes the identity and permanently acts the part of the gender opposite to his or her biological sex
the condition of being formally forgiven by a priest in the sacrament of penance
the condition of being automatically operated or controlled
the condition of being treated in a cruel and savage manner
the condition of being strongly disapproved of
the condition of being treated like a god
the condition of being varied
the condition of being relieved from blame or obligation
the condition of being made easy (or easier)
the condition of being formed into small tight curls
the condition of bearing fruit
the condition of being treated as a patient in a hospital
the condition of having the identity (of a person or object) established
the condition of being pressed closely together and firmly fixed
the condition of being dissociated into ions (as by heat or radiation or chemical reaction or electrical discharge)
the condition of being exposed to radiation
the condition of permitting leaks or leakage
the condition of having been made smooth or slippery by the application of a lubricant
the condition of having a highly technical implementation
the condition of being motivated
a condition resembling that of a mummy
the condition of being (well or ill) preserved
the condition of being prognathous; the condition of having a projecting jaw
the condition naturally attaching to life in the country
the condition of being coated or clogged with rust
the condition of being shocked (as by improper behavior)
a position in a hierarchy or organization
a relatively insignificant position from which future progress might be made
the condition of having submitted to control by someone or something else
the condition of being urbanized
the right to keep a job permanently, especially a teaching job
the history and background of someone or something, especially as a sign of quality, status, or legitimacy
state
(stāt)
n.
1.
a. A condition or mode of being, as with regard to circumstances: The office was in a state of confusion.
b. A condition of being in a stage or form, as of structure, growth, or development: the fetal state.
c. A mental or emotional condition: in a manic state.
d. Informal A condition of excitement or distress: was in a state over going to the prom.
e. Social position or rank.
2. Physics The condition of a physical system with regard to phase, form, composition, or structure: Ice is the solid state of water.
3. Ceremony; pomp: foreign leaders dining in state at the White House.
4.
a. The supreme public power within a sovereign political entity: the state intervening in the economy.
b. The sphere of supreme civil power within a given polity: matters of state.
c. A specific kind of government: the socialist state.
d. A body politic, especially one constituting a nation: the states of Eastern Europe.
e. One of the more or less internally autonomous territorial and political units composing a federation under a sovereign government: the 48 contiguous states of the Union.
adj.
1. Of or relating to a body politic or to an internally autonomous territorial or political unit constituting a federation under one government: a monarch dealing with state matters; the department that handles state security.
2. Owned and operated by a state: state universities.
tr.v. stat·ed, stat·ing, states
To set forth in words; declare.
stat′a·ble, state′a·ble adj.
Synonyms: state, condition, situation, status
These nouns denote the mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing: an old factory in a state of disrepair; a jogger in healthy condition; a police officer responding to a dangerous situation; the uncertain status of the peace negotiations.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
state
(steɪt)
n
1. the condition of a person, thing, etc, with regard to main attributes
2. the structure, form, or constitution of something: a solid state.
3. any mode of existence
4. position in life or society; estate
5. ceremonious style, as befitting wealth or dignity: to live in state.
6. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a sovereign political power or community
7. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the territory occupied by such a community
8. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the sphere of power in such a community: affairs of state.
9. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (often capital) one of a number of areas or communities having their own governments and forming a federation under a sovereign government, as in the US
10. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (often capital) the body politic of a particular sovereign power, esp as contrasted with a rival authority such as the Church
11. obsolete a class or order; estate
12. informal a nervous, upset, or excited condition (esp in the phrase in a state)
13. lie in state (of a body) to be placed on public view before burial
14. state of affairs a situation; present circumstances or condition
15. state of play the current situation
modifier
16. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) controlled or financed by a state: state university.
17. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) of, relating to, or concerning the State: State trial.
18. involving ceremony or concerned with a ceremonious occasion: state visit.
vb (tr; may take a clause as object)
19. to articulate in words; utter
20. to declare formally or publicly: to state one’s innocence.
21. to resolve
[C13: from Old French estat, from Latin status a standing, from stāre to stand]
ˈstatable, ˈstateable adj
ˈstatehood n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
state
art at start
(steɪt)
n., adj., v. stat•ed, stat•ing. n.
1. the condition of a person or thing, as with respect to circumstances or attributes: the state of one’s health.
2. the condition of matter with respect to structure, form, phase, or the like: water in a gaseous state.
3. status, rank, or position in life; station.
4. the formal or elaborate style befitting a person of wealth and high rank: to travel in state.
5. a particular condition of mind or feeling: an excited state.
6. an abnormally tense, nervous, or perturbed condition: in a state over losing one’s job.
7. a politically unified people occupying a definite territory; nation.
8. the territory or authority of a state.
9. (sometimes cap.) any of the bodies politic or political units that together make up a federal union, as in the United States of America.
10. the body politic as organized for civil rule and government: separation of church and state.
11. the sphere of the highest civil authority and administration: affairs of state.
12. the States, the United States (usu. used outside its borders).
adj.
13. of or pertaining to the central civil government or authority.
14. of, maintained by, or under the authority of a unit of a federal union: a state highway.
15. characterized by, attended with, or involving ceremony: a state dinner.
16. used on or reserved for occasions of ceremony.
v.t.
17. to declare definitely or specifically.
18. to set forth formally in speech or writing.
19. to set forth in proper or definite form: to state a problem.
20. to say.
21. to fix or settle, as by authority.
Idioms:
lie in state, (of a corpse) to be exhibited publicly with honors before burial.
[1175–1225; Middle English stat (n.), partly aph. variant of estat estate, partly < Latin status condition (see status); in definitions 7–11 < Latin status (rērum) state (of things) or status (reī pūblicae) state (of the republic)]
stat′a•ble, state′a•ble, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
State
of princes: princes collectively—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
state
Past participle: stated
Gerund: stating
| Imperative |
|---|
| state |
| state |
| Present |
|---|
| I state |
| you state |
| he/she/it states |
| we state |
| you state |
| they state |
| Preterite |
|---|
| I stated |
| you stated |
| he/she/it stated |
| we stated |
| you stated |
| they stated |
| Present Continuous |
|---|
| I am stating |
| you are stating |
| he/she/it is stating |
| we are stating |
| you are stating |
| they are stating |
| Present Perfect |
|---|
| I have stated |
| you have stated |
| he/she/it has stated |
| we have stated |
| you have stated |
| they have stated |
| Past Continuous |
|---|
| I was stating |
| you were stating |
| he/she/it was stating |
| we were stating |
| you were stating |
| they were stating |
| Past Perfect |
|---|
| I had stated |
| you had stated |
| he/she/it had stated |
| we had stated |
| you had stated |
| they had stated |
| Future |
|---|
| I will state |
| you will state |
| he/she/it will state |
| we will state |
| you will state |
| they will state |
| Future Perfect |
|---|
| I will have stated |
| you will have stated |
| he/she/it will have stated |
| we will have stated |
| you will have stated |
| they will have stated |
| Future Continuous |
|---|
| I will be stating |
| you will be stating |
| he/she/it will be stating |
| we will be stating |
| you will be stating |
| they will be stating |
| Present Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I have been stating |
| you have been stating |
| he/she/it has been stating |
| we have been stating |
| you have been stating |
| they have been stating |
| Future Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I will have been stating |
| you will have been stating |
| he/she/it will have been stating |
| we will have been stating |
| you will have been stating |
| they will have been stating |
| Past Perfect Continuous |
|---|
| I had been stating |
| you had been stating |
| he/she/it had been stating |
| we had been stating |
| you had been stating |
| they had been stating |
| Conditional |
|---|
| I would state |
| you would state |
| he/she/it would state |
| we would state |
| you would state |
| they would state |
| Past Conditional |
|---|
| I would have stated |
| you would have stated |
| he/she/it would have stated |
| we would have stated |
| you would have stated |
| they would have stated |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
state
1. Any of the images through which a print may pass as the artist alters the design, as frequently occurs in the work of Rembrandt. If no changes are made, this may be described as the only state.” Art historians may dispute whether differences are deliberate or merely caused by wear on the plate.
2. An internally autonomous territorial and political unit.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
| Noun | 1. |  state — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; «his state is in the deep south»
province administrative district, administrative division, territorial division — a district defined for administrative purposes commonwealth — the official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico) country, land, state — the territory occupied by a nation; «he returned to the land of his birth»; «he visited several European countries» eparchy — a province in ancient Greece American state — one of the 50 states of the United States Italian region — Italy is divided into 20 regions for administrative purposes Canadian province — Canada is divided into 12 provinces for administrative purposes Australian state — one of the several states constituting Australia Soviet Socialist Republic — one of the states that formerly made up the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922-1991) |
| 2. | state — the way something is with respect to its main attributes; «the current state of knowledge»; «his state of health»; «in a weak financial state»
attribute — an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity feeling — the experiencing of affective and emotional states; «she had a feeling of euphoria»; «he had terrible feelings of guilt»; «I disliked him and the feeling was mutual» skillfulness — the state of being cognitively skillful cleavage — the state of being split or cleft; «there was a cleavage between the liberal and conservative members» medium — a state that is intermediate between extremes; a middle position; «a happy medium» ornamentation — the state of being ornamented condition — a mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing; «the human condition» condition, status — a state at a particular time; «a condition (or state) of disrepair»; «the current status of the arms negotiations» conditionality — the state of being conditional ground state — (physics) the lowest energy state of an atom or other particle nationhood — the state of being a nation situation, state of affairs — the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; «the present international situation is dangerous»; «wondered how such a state of affairs had come about»; «eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation»- Franklin D.Roosevelt relationship — a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection); «he didn’t want his wife to know of the relationship» relationship — a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries tribalism — the state of living together in tribes utopia — ideally perfect state; especially in its social and political and moral aspects dystopia — state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror natural state, state of nature, wild — a wild primitive state untouched by civilization; «he lived in the wild»; «they collected mushrooms in the wild» isomerism — the state of being an isomer; the complex of chemical and physical phenomena characteristic of isomers degree, stage, level, point — a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process; «a remarkable degree of frankness»; «at what stage are the social sciences?» office, power — (of a government or government official) holding an office means being in power; «being in office already gives a candidate a great advantage»; «during his first year in office»; «during his first year in power»; «the power of the president» status, position — the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society; «he had the status of a minor»; «the novel attained the status of a classic»; «atheists do not enjoy a favorable position in American life» being, beingness, existence — the state or fact of existing; «a point of view gradually coming into being»; «laws in existence for centuries» nonbeing — the state of not being death — the absence of life or state of being dead; «he seemed more content in death than he had ever been in life» employ, employment — the state of being employed or having a job; «they are looking for employment»; «he was in the employ of the city» unemployment — the state of being unemployed or not having a job; «unemployment is a serious social evil»; «the rate of unemployment is an indicator of the health of an economy» order — established customary state (especially of society); «order ruled in the streets»; «law and order» disorder — a disturbance of the peace or of public order antagonism, enmity, hostility — a state of deep-seated ill-will conflict — a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests; «his conflict of interest made him ineligible for the post»; «a conflict of loyalties» illumination — the degree of visibility of your environment freedom — the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints delegacy, representation, agency — the state of serving as an official and authorized delegate or agent dependence, dependency, dependance — the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else motion — a state of change; «they were in a state of steady motion» lifelessness, motionlessness, stillness — a state of no motion or movement; «the utter motionlessness of a marble statue» dead letter, non-issue — the state of something that has outlived its relevance activeness, activity, action — the state of being active; «his sphere of activity»; «he is out of action» inaction, inactiveness, inactivity — the state of being inactive temporary state — a state that continues for a limited time |
|
| 3. | state — the group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state; «the state has lowered its income tax»
authorities, government, regime — the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit; «the government reduced taxes»; «the matter was referred to higher authorities» Soviets — the government of the Soviet Union; «the Soviets said they wanted to increase trade with Europe» welfare state — a government that undertakes responsibility for the welfare of its citizens through programs in public health and public housing and pensions and unemployment compensation etc. |
|
| 4. |  state — a politically organized body of people under a single government; «the state has elected a new president»; «African nations»; «students who had come to the nation’s capitol»; «the country’s largest manufacturer»; «an industrialized land»
body politic, country, nation, res publica, commonwealth, land commonwealth country — any of the countries in the British Commonwealth developing country — a country that is poor and whose citizens are mostly agricultural workers but that wants to become more advanced socially and economically Dominion — one of the self-governing nations in the British Commonwealth estate of the realm, the three estates, estate — a major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights foreign country — any state of which one is not a citizen; «working in a foreign country takes a bit of getting used to» Reich — the German state renegade state, rogue nation, rogue state — a state that does not respect other states in its international actions suzerain — a state exercising a degree of dominion over a dependent state especially in its foreign affairs sea power — a nation that possesses formidable naval strength great power, major power, superpower, world power, power — a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world city state, city-state — a state consisting of a sovereign city ally — a friendly nation political entity, political unit — a unit with political responsibilities |
|
| 5. | state — (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container); «the solid state of water is called ice»
state of matter chemical science, chemistry — the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions chemical phenomenon — any natural phenomenon involving chemistry (as changes to atoms or molecules) phase, form — (physical chemistry) a distinct state of matter in a system; matter that is identical in chemical composition and physical state and separated from other material by the phase boundary; «the reaction occurs in the liquid phase of the system» liquid state, liquidity, liquidness, liquid — the state in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow with little or no tendency to disperse and relatively high incompressibility solid state, solidness, solid — the state in which a substance has no tendency to flow under moderate stress; resists forces (such as compression) that tend to deform it; and retains a definite size and shape gas, gaseous state — the state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by: relatively low density and viscosity; relatively great expansion and contraction with changes in pressure and temperature; the ability to diffuse readily; and the spontaneous tendency to become distributed uniformly throughout any container plasma — (physical chemistry) a fourth state of matter distinct from solid or liquid or gas and present in stars and fusion reactors; a gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their electrons, leaving a highly electrified collection of nuclei and free electrons; «particles in space exist in the form of a plasma» |
|
| 6. | state — a state of depression or agitation; «he was in such a state you just couldn’t reason with him»
colloquialism — a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech emotional state, spirit — the state of a person’s emotions (especially with regard to pleasure or dejection); «his emotional state depended on her opinion»; «he was in good spirits»; «his spirit rose» |
|
| 7. |  state — the territory occupied by a nation; «he returned to the land of his birth»; «he visited several European countries»
country, land administrative district, administrative division, territorial division — a district defined for administrative purposes banana republic — a small country (especially in Central America) that is politically unstable and whose economy is dominated by foreign companies and depends on one export (such as bananas) country of origin, fatherland, homeland, mother country, motherland, native land — the country where you were born buffer country, buffer state — a small neutral state between two rival powers department — the territorial and administrative division of some countries (such as France) demesne, domain, land — territory over which rule or control is exercised; «his domain extended into Europe»; «he made it the law of the land» midland — the interior part of a country kingdom — a country with a king as head of state province, state — the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; «his state is in the deep south» tax haven — a country or independent region where taxes are low European country, European nation — any one of the countries occupying the European continent African country, African nation — any one of the countries occupying the African continent Asian country, Asian nation — any one of the nations occupying the Asian continent South American country, South American nation — any one of the countries occupying the South American continent North American country, North American nation — any country on the North American continent sultanate — country or territory ruled by a sultan |
|
| 8. | State — the federal department in the United States that sets and maintains foreign policies; «the Department of State was created in 1789»
Department of State, DoS, State Department, United States Department of State executive department — a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States Foggy Bottom — United States Department of State, which is housed in a building in a low-lying area of Washington near the Potomac River Bureau of Diplomatic Security, DS — the bureau in the State Department that is responsible for the security of diplomats and embassies overseas Foreign Service — the part of the State Department that supplies diplomats for the United States embassies and consulates around the world Bureau of Intelligence and Research, INR — an agency that is the primary source in the State Department for interpretive analyses of global developments and focal point for policy issues and activities of the Intelligence Community |
|
| Verb | 1. | state — express in words; «He said that he wanted to marry her»; «tell me what is bothering you»; «state your opinion»; «state your name»
say, tell present, lay out, represent — bring forward and present to the mind; «We presented the arguments to him»; «We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason» misstate — state something incorrectly; «You misstated my position» answer, reply, respond — react verbally; «She didn’t want to answer»; «answer the question»; «We answered that we would accept the invitation» preface, premise, precede, introduce — furnish with a preface or introduction; «She always precedes her lectures with a joke»; «He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution» give tongue to, utter, express, verbalise, verbalize — articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise; «She expressed her anger»; «He uttered a curse» announce, declare — announce publicly or officially; «The President declared war» enunciate, vocalise, vocalize, articulate — express or state clearly say — state as one’s opinion or judgement; declare; «I say let’s forget this whole business» get out — express with difficulty; «I managed to get out a few words» declare — state emphatically and authoritatively; «He declared that he needed more money to carry out the task he was charged with» declare — make a declaration (of dutiable goods) to a customs official; «Do you have anything to declare?» note, remark, mention, observe — make mention of; «She observed that his presentation took up too much time»; «They noted that it was a fine day to go sailing» add, append, supply — state or say further; «`It doesn’t matter,’ he supplied» explain — define; «The committee explained their plan for fund-raising to the Dean» give — convey or reveal information; «Give one’s name» sum, summarise, summarize, sum up — be a summary of; «The abstract summarizes the main ideas in the paper» |
| 2. | state — put before; «I submit to you that the accused is guilty»
put forward, submit, posit propose, suggest, advise — make a proposal, declare a plan for something; «the senator proposed to abolish the sales tax» |
|
| 3. | state — indicate through a symbol, formula, etc.; «Can you express this distance in kilometers?»
express denote, refer — have as a meaning; «`multi-‘ denotes `many’ « vote — express a choice or opinion; «I vote that we all go home»; «She voted for going to the Chinese restaurant» vote — express one’s choice or preference by vote; «vote the Democratic ticket» |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
state
verb
1. say, report, declare, specify, put, present, explain, voice, express, assert, utter, articulate, affirm, expound, enumerate, propound, aver, asseverate Clearly state your address and telephone number.
adjective
2. distressed, upset, agitated, disturbed, anxious, ruffled, uptight (informal), flustered, panic-stricken, het up, all steamed up (slang) I was in a terrible state because nobody could understand why I had this illness.
3. untidy, disordered, messy, muddled, cluttered, jumbled, in disarray, shambolic, topsy-turvy, higgledy-piggledy (informal) The living room was in a dreadful state.
States
US States
| State | Abbreviation | Zip code |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Ala. | AL |
| Alaska | Alas. | AK |
| Arizona | Ariz. | AZ |
| Arkansas | Ark. | AR |
| California | Cal. | CA |
| Colorado | Colo. | CO |
| Connecticut | Conn. | CT |
| Delaware | Del. | DE |
| District of Columbia | D.C. | DC |
| Florida | Fla. | FL |
| Georgia | Ga. | GA |
| Hawaii | Haw. | HI |
| Idaho | Id. or Ida. | ID |
| Illinois | Ill. | IL |
| Indiana | Ind. | IN |
| Iowa | Ia. or Io. | IA |
| Kansas | Kan. or Kans. | KS |
| Kentucky | Ken. | KY |
| Louisiana | La. | LA |
| Maine | Me. | ME |
| Maryland | Md. | MD |
| Massachusetts | Mass. | MA |
| Michigan | Mich. | MI |
| Minnesota | Minn. | MN |
| Mississippi | Miss. | MS |
| Missouri | Mo. | MO |
| Montana | Mont. | MT |
| Nebraska | Neb. | NE |
| Nevada | Nev. | NV |
| New Hampshire | N.H. | NH |
| New Jersey | N.J. | NJ |
| New Mexico | N.M. or N.Mex. | NM |
| New York | N.Y. | NY |
| North Carolina | N.C. | NC |
| North Dakota | N.D. or N.Dak. | ND |
| Ohio | O. | OH |
| Oklahoma | Okla. | OK |
| Oregon | Oreg. | OR |
| Pennsylvania | Pa., Penn., or Penna. | PA |
| Rhode Island | R.I. | RI |
| South Carolina | S.C. | SC |
| South Dakota | S.Dak. | SD |
| Tennessee | Tenn. | TN |
| Texas | Tex. | TX |
| Utah | Ut. | UT |
| Vermont | Vt. | VT |
| Virginia | Va. | VA |
| Washington | Wash. | WA |
| West Virginia | W.Va. | WV |
| Wisconsin | Wis. | WI |
| Wyoming | Wyo. | WY |
Australian States and Territories Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
state
noun
1. Manner of being or form of existence:
2. Informal. A condition of excited distress:
3. An organized geopolitical unit:
verb
1. To put into words:
articulate, communicate, convey, declare, express, say, talk, tell, utter, vent, verbalize, vocalize, voice.
Idiom: give tongue to.
3. To declare by way of a systematic statement:
4. To put into words positively and with conviction:
affirm, allege, argue, assert, asseverate, aver, avouch, avow, claim, contend, declare, hold, maintain, say.
The American Heritage® Roget’s Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
státstavvyhlásitkonstatovatmajestát
staterklæremeddelepragtstand
landostatoŝtato
sanoatilatodetavaltioilmoittaa
državeustvrditi
államállapotkijelentközölmegállapít
ástandlÿsa yfir, staîhæfaríkiviîhöfn
状態述べる道都省
국가진술하다
būklėbūsenavalstybė
formulētizklāstītoficiāls gadījumsparādestāvoklis
štátštátnyvýkaz
državanavestistanje
krajina
stattillstånduppgerike
บอกกล่าวรัฐ
quốc giatuyên bố
state
[steɪt]
C. CPD (Pol) [policy, documents, security] → del estado; [capitalism, socialism, visit, funeral, business] → de estado
state aid N → ayuda f estatal
state apartments NPL apartamentos destinados a visitas de mandatarios
state bank (US) N → banco m estatal or del estado
state banquet N → banquete m de gala
state benefit N → subsidios mpl del estado, subsidios mpl estatales
those receiving or on state benefit → aquéllos que cobran subsidios del estado or estatales
State Capitol N (US) edificio donde tiene su sede el poder legislativo de un estado
state control N → control m público or estatal
to be/come under state control → pasar a manos del estado
State Department N (US) → Ministerio m de Asuntos Exteriores
state education N → enseñanza f pública
State Enrolled Nurse N (Brit) (formerly) → enfermero/a m/f diplomado/a (con dos años de estudios)
state fair N (US) → feria f estatal
state funding N → financiación f pública
state highway N (US) → carretera f nacional
state legislature N (US) → poder m legislativo del estado
state line N (US) → frontera f de estado
state militia N (US) [of specific state] → milicia f del estado
state occasion N → acontecimiento m solemne
state ownership N they believe in state ownership of the means of production → creen que los medios de producción deberían estar en manos del estado, son partidarios de que los medios de producción estén en manos del estado
state pension N → pensión f del estado, pensión f estatal
state police N [of country] → policía f nacional (US) [of specific state] → policía f del estado
state prison N (US) → cárcel f estatal, prisión f estatal
State Registered Nurse N (Brit) (formerly) → enfermero/a m/f diplomado/a (con tres años de estudios)
State Representative N (US) (Pol) → representante mf del estado
state school N (Brit) → colegio m público, escuela f pública
state secret N (lit, fig) → secreto m de estado
state sector N → sector m estatal
State Senator N (US) → senador(a) m/f del estado
state subsidy N → subvención f estatal
state tax N (US) [of specific state] → impuesto m del estado
state trooper N (US) [of specific state] → policía mf del estado
state university N (US) → universidad f pública
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Se denomina State of the Union Address al discurso que el Presidente de Estados Unidos dirige cada mes de enero al Congreso y al pueblo estadounidense, en que muestra su visión de la nación y la economía y explica sus planes para el futuro. Como el discurso recibe una amplia cobertura informativa, el mensaje del Presidente va dirigido no sólo a los parlamentarios sino a todo el país. Esta tradición de dirigirse al Congreso poco después de la vuelta de éste de las vacaciones de Navidad el día 3 de enero se debe a que es un requisito de la Constitución que el Presidente informe al Congreso de vez en cuando sobre the State of the Union.
STATES’ RIGHTS
Al hablar de State’s Rights los estadounidenses se refieren a los derechos que tienen los estados en relación al gobierno federal, como por ejemplo la capacidad de recaudar impuestos, aprobar leyes o controlar la educación pública. En la Décima Enmienda de la Constitución estadounidense se dice que los poderes que la Constitución no delega a los Estados Unidos «se reservan a cada estado particular o al pueblo», aunque ha habido mucha polémica a la hora de interpretar esta enmienda. Este principio se usó para justificar la secesión de los estados sureños antes de la Guerra Civil y se convirtió en una consigna sureña contra la integración racial durante los años 50. Recientemente esta idea se ha ido extendiendo por todo el país debido a la falta de confianza de la gente en el gobierno federal, que está acaparando cada vez más poderes pero cuyos gastos son también mayores.
Collins Spanish Dictionary — Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
state
[ˈsteɪt]
modif [affairs, aid, benefits, funding, pension] → de l’État; [company, airline, enterprise, radio, television] → d’État; [visit] → d’État; [occasion, opening] → national(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
state
n
(Pol) → Staat m; (= federal state) → (Bundes)staat m; (in Germany, Austria) → (Bundes)land nt; the States → die (Vereinigten) Staaten; the State of Florida → der Staat Florida; a state within a state → ein Staat im Staate; affairs of state → Staatsangelegenheiten pl
state
in cpds → Staats-; control, industry → staatlich; (US etc) → des Bundes- or Einzelstaates, bundesstaatlich;
state apartment
n → Prunksaal m
state
:
state
:
state
:
state occasion
n → Staatsanlass m, → Staatsfeierlichkeit f
state
:
state-owned
adj → staatseigen
state
:
state trooper
n (US) → Staatspolizist(in) m(f)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
state
[steɪt]
1. n
b. (anxiety) → agitazione f
now don’t get into a state → non ti agitare
d. (Pol) the State → lo Stato
3. adj (business) → di stato; (control) → statale; (security) → dello stato
the State line (Am) → il confine (tra due stati)
to pay a state visit to a country → andare in visita ufficiale in un paese
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
state1
(steit) noun
1. the condition in which a thing or person is. the bad state of the roads; The room was in an untidy state; He inquired about her state of health; What a state you’re in!; He was not in a fit state to take the class.
2. a country considered as a political community, or, as in the United States, one division of a federation. The Prime Minister visits the Queen once a week to discuss affairs of state; The care of the sick and elderly is considered partly the responsibility of the state; (also adjective) The railways are under state control; state-controlled / owned industries.
3. ceremonial dignity and splendour. The Queen, wearing her robes of state, drove in a horse-drawn coach to Westminster; (also adjective) state occasions/banquets.
ˈstately adjective
noble, dignified and impressive in appearance or manner. She is tall and stately; a stately house.
ˈstateliness nounˈstatesman (ˈsteits-) noun
a person who plays an important part in the government of a state.
ˈstatesmanlike (ˈsteits-) adjective
showing the qualities of a good statesman.
ˈstatesmanship (ˈsteits-) noun
skill in directing the affairs of a state.
get into a state
to become very upset or anxious.
lie in state
(of a corpse) to be laid in a place of honour for the public to see, before burial.
state2
(steit) verb
to say or announce clearly, carefully and definitely. You have not yet stated your intentions.
ˈstatement noun
1. the act of stating.
2. something that is stated. The prime minister will make a statement tomorrow on the crisis.
3. a written statement of how much money a person has, owes etc. I’ll look at my bank statement to see how much money is in my account.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
state
→ دَوْلَة, يُصَرِّحُ konstatovat, stát erklære, stat erklären, Zustand δηλώνω, πολιτεία declarar, estado sanoa, tila annoncer, état države, ustvrditi dichiarare, stato 状態, 述べる 국가, 진술하다 staat, verklaren erklære, tilstand podać, stan declarar, estado излагать, состояние stat, uppge บอกกล่าว, รัฐ durum, ifade etmek quốc gia, tuyên bố 国家, 陈述
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
state
n. estado, condición;
nutritional ___ → ___ nutricional.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
state
n estado, condición f; hypercoagulable — estado de hipercoagulabilidad;
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is the state , State is a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government. State is is the organization while the government is the particular group of people, the administrative bureaucracy that controls the state apparatus at a given time.
The Term “State.”
Political science, as we have seen, deals With the phenomena of that highest of all human associations, the state. The term employed by the Greeks which corresponds mast nearly to the modern English term “state” was polis, meaning “city.” For them, the term was appropriate enough because their states were city-states, not territorial or country states such as most of those of modern times are.
In short, as Seeley remarked, political science was for the Greeks largely municipal science. The Romans employed the term civitas which connoted the same idea But they also employed the phrases status rei publicae and res publica, which implied not merely the idea of citizenship of a city but the notion of the public welfare. The terms probably conveyed to the Roman mind of the fifth century after Christ a meaning very similar to our modern nation of a state.
The early Teutons adopted only a part of the phrase status from which the modern word “state” was derived. In early modern times the coming into use of such German words as Landtag, Landesgesetz and Landesstaatsrecht indicated the new ct2nception2 of the state as a territorial rather than an urban commonwealth.
The word “state” (stato) appears to have been introduced into the modern literature of political science by Machiavelli, who in his famous book, “The Prince” ( Principe, 1523) observed at the outset that all the powers which have had and have authority over men are states (stati) and are either monarchies or republics.
In the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the words state, states, Staat appeared in English, French, and German literature, although Bodin in 1576 preferred the term “republic” o(republique) as the title of the French edition of his famous treatise.
Various Uses of the Term :-
Etymologically the term is an abstract one which has reference to that which is fixed or established. Thus we speak of the “state” of a man health, of his mind, or of his economic condition. The etymological connotation does not therefore correspond to the meaning of the word as a term of political science. Unfortunately, like many other words of common usage in the literature of political science and law, it is used in various senses Thus it is often employed as a synonym of nation, society, country, government etc.
It is commonly employed also to express the idea of the collective action of society as distinguished from individual action as when we speak of “state” aid to education, “state” regulation of industry, etc. Again, in some countries having the federal system of government, such as the United States (and the German Empire of 187 l1918), the term is used to designate both the federation as a whole and the component members constituting it.
The effect of this dual use of the term is to introduce confusion into the terminology of political science and it sometimes leads to misconceptions in political thinking. It is regrettable that neither the English, nor the German, nor the French language contains a suitable term by which the component members of federal unions may be appropriately designated. They are not, strictly speaking, “states” nor yet are they mere provinces or administrative districts, at least not in the American, Canadian, or Australian federal unions.
Likewise the use of the terms state and government as if the two things were identical, has produced equal confession and often misunderstanding. In fact they represent widely different concepts and upon the recognition of the distinction between them depends the true understanding of some of the most fundamental questions of political science.
The state is the politically organized person or entity for the promotion of common ends and the satisfaction of common needs, while the government is the collective name for the agency, magistracy, or organization through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed, and realized. The government is an essential organ or agency of the state, but it is no more the state itself than the board of directors of a corporation is itself the corporation.
In earlier times, it was not uncommon to identify the ruling sovereign with the state, and the famous saying attributed to Louis XIV (Lfétat, c’est moi) has often been quoted as an example of such identification But if the government and state were identical, the death of the reigning, sovereign or the overthrow of the government would necessarily interrupt, if not destroy, the continuity of the state life.
As a matter of fact changes of governmental organization do not affect the existence of the state. States possess the quality of permanence. Governments, on the contrary, are not immortal, they are constantly undergoing change as a result of revolution, or through legal processes, yet the state continues unimpaired and unaffected.
Governments are mere contrivances to use the language of Professor Seeley, through which the state manifests itself. They possess no sovereignty, no original unlimited authority, but only derivative power delegated by the state through its constitution. To understand clearly, therefore, the nature of each and the relation of one to the other, we must avoid identifying them either in thought or in treatment.
The term “state” is also frequently employed as a synonym for “society.” Thus is it said that society has a right to protect itself against crime, when it is the state that is meant. Society is the more general term meaning the people, viewed in their associated aspect, that is, an aggregation having common interests and united by what the sociologists term a consciousness of kind, whereas the state is a particular portion of society politically organized for the protection and promotion of its common interests. The principal difference between society and the state, therefore, is that the latter necessarily implies political organization, while the former does not. Spencer described the state as society in its corporate capacity.
What Is The State ?
From a consideration of matters of terminology we come now to inquire what is the state. Definitions of the state are, as the German writer Schulze remarked, innumerable, almost every author-having his own and scarcely any two being alike. Aristotle, the “father of political science” defined the state as
“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.”
If, he said,
“all communities aim at some good, the state or political community, which is the highest of all and which embraces all the rest, aims, and in a greater degree than any other, at the highest good.”
As a general statement of the primary object of the state it can hardly be improved upon. Cicero defined the state (respublzca) as a numerous society united by a common sense of right and a mutual participation in advantages.
His definition commended itself to Grotius, who defined the state somewhat similarly as a perfect society of free men united for the sake of enjoying the advantages of right and the common utility, is and his definition in turn was adapted in substance by Vattel and Wheaton. Bodin, in 1576, defined the state as an association of families and their common possessions, governed by a supreme power and by reason. Thus, like Aristotle, he made the family rather than the individual the unit.
Modern Definitions of the State :-
Among the definitions given by modern authorities the following are among the most satisfactory. The English writer Holland defines a state as 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 or class made to prevail against any of their number who oppose it.
Hall, viewing the state primarily as a concept of international law,says, 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 .
Burgess defines it as a particular portion of mankind ,viewed as an organized unit, which is substantially the same as the definition given by Bluntschli, who says, The state is the politically organized people of a definite territory. The United States Supreme Court in an early case defined a state as a body of free persons united together for the common benefit, to enjoy peaceably what is their own, and to do justice to others.
More recently it has defined the state as a political community of free citizens occupying a territory of defined boundaries, and organized under a government sanctioned and limited by a written constitution and established by the consent of the governed. Esmein, regarding it from the point of view of the jurist, defines the state s the juridical personification of a nation. Duguit defines it uniquely as a human society in which there exists a political differentiation, that is, a differentiation between the governed and the governors.
Carre de Malberg defines the state concretely as a community of men fixed on a territory which is their own and possessing an organization from which results, for the group envisaged in its relations with its members, a superior Power of action, of command, and of coercion.
Phillimore says a state for all purposes of international law is a people permanently occupying a fixed territory, bound together by common laws, habits, and customs into one body politic, exercising through the medium of an organized government: independent sovereignty and control over all persons and things within its boundaries, capable of making war and peace and of entering into all international relations with the communities of the globe.
Conclusion :-
If one more definition may be added to this long list I would say that 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, in dependent, or nearly so, of external control, and possessing an organized government to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience. The essential constituent elements, political, physical, and spiritual, of the modern state are all brought out in this definition.
They are first, a group of persons associated together for common purposes second, the occupation of a determinate portion of the earth’s surface which constitutes the home (or, as the Germans say, the Baden) of the population, third, independence of foreign control and fourth, a common supreme authority or agency through which the collective will is expressed and enforced.
Factors Determining Definitions :-
Points of View Naturally definitions of the state are colored by the opinions of their authors and are affected by the point of view from which the state is envisaged. Thus the sociologist, viewing it primarily as a social phenomenon, usually defines it differently from the way in which the jurist, who regards it first of all as a juridical establishment, ‘usually defines it. Similarly, writers on international law in their definitions emphasize certain elements-Which the political scientist ignores or minimizes. Finally, philosophical writers who think and write in abstract terms formulate their definitions accordingly. Such, for example, were the definitions of Hegel, Who defined the state as the incorporation of the objective spirit as the ethical spirit, the manifest, self-conscious, substantial will of man, thinking and knowing itself and suiting its performance to its knowledge or to the proportion of its knowledge as the actualization of concrete freedom, as perfected rationality the realization of the moral idea, etc.
The objection to such definitions is that they are, aside from their highly abstract character, based on a one-sided view of the state and afford little clue to its real character and mission. In attempting to define the state we Should do well to remember that it is at the same time both an abstract conception and a concrete organization. Abstractly considered, it is merely a juridical person, a corporation, separate and distinct from the people who, with the territory which they occupy, constitute the physical state.
On the other hand, the state concretely considered is the community, the territory which it occupies, and the organization through which it wills and acts. Thus viewed, the state is identified with the physical elements which are said to constitute it. Some writers conceive it only from the first viewpoint others, denying the personality theory, regard it only from the second point of view.
The Idea and the Concept of the State :-
Political Philosophers have often discussed the idea and some have distinguished it from the concept of the state. The term idea as thus used connotes several meanings. Thus the state, when considered apart from its concrete physical existence, is sometimes referred to as an abstract idea. Again it is spoken of as existing in idea before it has acquired an objective form with an organization and institutions.
Thus Hegel said the idea of the state has immediate actuality in the individual state, by which he apparently meant that it is merely a thing of philosophical speculation until it takes Hesh and blood and becomes a working institution serving the needs of the community. Other writers, for the most part Germans, distinguishing between the idea (Idee) and the concept (Begrig) of the state, employ the term Stateside to designate the ideally perfect state as distinguished from the imperfect actual state, that is, the state as a concept.
Some of them appear to regard the ideally perfect state as a universal state. Thus Biuntschli said,
“the concept of the state (Staatsbegiff) has to do with the natural and essential characteristics of actual states. The idea of the state (Staatszdee) presents a picture, in the splendor of imaginary perfection, of the state as not yet realized but to be striven for.”
Burgess adopts this distinction between the idea and the concept of the state.
He says:
“The idea of the state is the state perfect and complete. The concept of the state is the state developing and approaching perfection. From the standpoint of the idea, the state is mankind viewed as an organized unit”
From the standpoint of the concept, it is a particular portion of mankind viewed as an organized unit. From the stand-point of the idea the territorial basis of the state is the world, and the principle of unity is humanity. From the standpoint of the concept, again, the territorial basis of the state is a particular portion of the earth’s surface, and the principle of unity is that particular phase of human nature and of human need, which at any particular stage in the development of that nature is predominant and commanding. The former is the real state of the perfect future. The latter is the real state of the past, the present, and the imperfect future. The distinction is largely met a physical or philosophical and has little practical value. The view that the ideal state state, will, of course, find numerous combatants.
The State as a Concept of International Law :-
The state as to often defined by writers on political science and constitutional law is not necessarily a state in the sense in which the term is used in the literature of international law. Conversely, a state in the latter sense may lack some of the attributes of a state as a Concept of Political science and constitutional law.
Thus writers who do not consider sovereignty as an essential constituent element of the state regard members of federal unions, protect Orates, so-called vassal states under the suzerainty of other states, states under mandates, and autonomous dependencies like the British self governing dominions, as states, although they are not fully such in the eye of international law. Likewise, there is a group of petty states such as San Marino and Liechtenstein which although sovereign and possessing the other marks of a state when judged by the criteria of political science, are not regarded as full international persons.
A state in the sense of international law must be a fully sovereign and independent community with a legal capacity to enter into international relations, and must possess the power and will to fulfill the obligations which international law requires of all members of the family of nations.
Furthermore, it must have been recognized as such and thereby admitted to membership in the international community on a footing of , equality with other states. A community therefore may possess all the marks of a state as usually defined in terms of political science, but until it has been received into the family of nations it is not a state according to international law. International law does not deny the existence of a state before it has been recognized, but it simply takes no notice of it.
Thus the Ottoman Empire was not admitted to participate in the benefits of the European system of public law until 1856, while China and Japan were not recognized as full members of the international community until a still more recent date. Although Russia has long been a member, there is at present a disposition to treat her as being outside the circle because of the refusal of the Soviet government to recognize the validity of the international engagements and obligations entered into by the former governments of Russia.
Is the League of Nations :-
State ? The recent establishment of a new international political entity known as the League of Nations has given rise to much discussion as to its exact juristic character. Some of its friends have maintained that it is a state, at least in the sense of international law, that is an international person, while some of its critics have attacked it on the ground that it is a super-state elected over the individual states which compose its membership. It is a creation having executive, administrative, and quasi-legislative organs it has brought about the establishment of a court which may be regarded, in a sense at least, as the judicial organ of the League it has a seat or capital, a treasury, a budget, it owns buildings and other property it can probably sue in the courts and be sued, at least with its consent it is said to have the right of legation, since in fact several members of the League have accredited permanent quasi-diplomatic representatives to it and occasionally it sends temporary missions to other states , its representatives and officials. by article of the covenant are declared to be entitled to diplomatic privileges and immunizes when engaged on the business of the League, it is said to exercise the right of sovereignty, for example, over the Saar basin and the territories under mandate, it exercises the power of intervention for the protection of minorities in certain states, it exercises the power to declare war and make peace etc.
The League Not a State :-
On the other hand, it is argued that the League cannot be properly regarded as an international person, or state, for the reason that it has no territory of its own over which it can exercise jurisdiction, no power to issue commands and enforce obedience, and if it had, it possesses no subjects to whom it could address such commands. As to the right of legation attributed to it, it has been pointed out that it is at best only a very imperfect right, since the League has no legal capacity to accord diplomatic privileges to persons accredited to it,-nor to protect those to whom it is promised, nor any power to refuse to receive a particular person because he is persona non gram Or for other reasons, Its right to declare war is nothing more than the right of the council to recommend to the members military action and if in their discretion they act upon the recommendation the war is-carried on not by the League but by the participating members.
Its alleged right of sovereignty over the Saar basin is not such in strict legal theory but merely the right of provisional government and trusteeship the dejure sovereignty remaining in the German state. The situation is essentially the same in respect to the mandated territories, the sovereignty over them belonging either to the mandatory power or to the mandated state. In either case the role of the League is merely that of supervisionthe duty to see, so far as it can, that the mandatory power exercises its control in accordance with the terms of the mandate and for the benefit of the inhabitants.
As to the right of intervention in behalf of racial, linguistic or religious minorities, that is nothing more than the right to use good offices and moral influence or to recommend military action by the members of the League. Finally, the alleged League protectorate over Danzig is not such in fact, and it is pointed out that the control of the foreign relations of the free city has been entrusted to Poland, Who exercises it not on behalf of the League or even of the free city, but in the interest of Poland itself
For these reasons it is denied that the League is an international person, that is, a state in the sense of international law. The better view is that the League is not a state, least of all a superstate, according to either political science or international law, but is rather an association of independent states and self governing dominions established for the accomplishment of Specific Objects.
As such it approximates a state, in the sense of international law, more nearly than any Other international association in existence. In the course of time it may possibly develop into an association possessing the attributes of a full-fledged international person, though it is difficult to see how it can ever evolve into a state, as the term is ordinarily defined in political science and constitutional law, without its involving the destruction, in part at least, of the individual member states composing it.
Is the Papacy a State ?
Prior to 1870 the Holy See was a state and the pope was a temporal sovereign, as well as the ecclesiastical head of the Roman Catholic Church. In that year, however the papal territories were secularized and incorporated in the new kingdom of Italy and thus the temporal sovereignty of the pope came to an end.
Nevertheless, certain Catholic writers maintained that the papacy was still a state, although they admitted that it lacked some of the characteristics of other states. They argued that although the papacy had lost its former territories it stile possessed the Vatican with its grounds , that in its officials employees, and guards it had subjects, that they were under the jurisdiction of the papacy alone , that the papacy had its own governmental organization and judicial court, that the pope was not subject to the king of Italy or any other temporal sovereign that he sent and received diplomatic representatives who were treated on an equal footing with other diplomatic representatives, that he entered into agreements (concordats) with other states, and that he was accorded (at least by Catholic powers) the honors of a temporal sovereign.
The better opinion, however, is that while the papacy was treated somewhat as if it were an international person, it was not such in fact and that it was still less a state according to political science. It was not invited to send plenipotentiaries to either of the two Hague Peace Conferences or to other international conferences later convoked. Moreover, the diplomatic representatives appointed by or accredited to the Vatican were charged only with interests of a religious character, and the concordats to which the papacy was a party dealt only with such matters.
All doubt as to whether the papacy was a state was removed, however, in 1929 by the conclusion of a treaty by which Italy recognized the sovereignty, ownership, and exclusive jurisdiction of the Holy See over the Vatican City, a small territory of 160 acres inhabited by about 400 persons. Italy also recognized the right of the Holy See to send and receive diplomatic representatives according to the general provisions of international law.
By an express declaration, however, the Holy See announced its intention of remaining aloof from all temporal disputes between nations and refraining from participation in international congresses convoked for the settlement of such disputes, except Upon special appeal from the contending parties.
A state is a political association with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, sub-national states or multinational states. A state usually includes the set of institutions that claim the authority to make the rules that govern the exercise of coercive violence for the people of the society in that territory, though its status as a state often depends in part on being recognized by a number of other states as having internal and external sovereignty over it. In sociology, the state is normally identified with these institutions: in Max Weber’s influential definition, it is that organization that «(successfully) claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory,» which may include the armed forces, civil service or state bureaucracy, courts, and police. Recently much debate has surrounded the issue of State-building with competing schools of thought on how to support the emergence of capable states.
Definition
Although the term often includes broadly all institutions of government or rule—ancient and modern—the modern state system bears a number of characteristics that were first consolidated beginning in earnest in the 15th century, when the term «state» also acquired its current meaning. Thus the word is often used in a strict sense to refer only to modern political systems.
Within a federal system, the term state also refers to political units, not completely sovereign themselves; however, these systems are subject to the authority of a constitution defining a federal union which is partially or co-sovereign with them.
In casual usage, the terms «country,» «nation,» and «state» are often used as if they were synonymous; but in a more strict usage they can be distinguished:
* «Country» denotes a geographical area.
* «Nation» denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, origins, and history. However, the adjectives «national» and «international» also refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly «states», as in «national capital», «international law».
* «State» refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory and population.
Etymology
The word «state» and its cognates in other European languages («stato» in Italian, «état» in French, «Staat» in German and «estado» in Spanish and Portuguese) ultimately derive from the Latin STATVS, meaning «condition» or «status». [«state.» Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 26 February 2007. [Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/state] .] With the revival of the Roman law in the 14th century in Europe, this Latin term was used to refer to the legal standing of persons (such as the various «estates of the realm» — noble, common, and clerical), and in particular the special status of the king. The word was also associated with Roman ideas (dating back to Cicero) about the «status rei publicae», the «condition of the republic.» In time, the word lost its reference to particular social groups and became associated with the legal order of the entire society and the apparatus of its enforcement.Skinner, Quentin. 1989. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521359783&id=1QrSKH_Q5M8C&pg=RA1-PA6&lpg=RA1-PA6&ots=Nn0ouzVO1R&dq=Skinner+Political+Innovation+Conceptual+Change&sig=660qldsyiEPiohCBXir3QqAwCWE#PRA1-PA90,M1 The State] . In Political Innovation and Conceptual Change, edited by T. Ball, J. Farr and R. L. Hanson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521359783&id=1QrSKH_Q5M8C&pg=RA1-PA6&lpg=RA1-PA6&ots=Nn0ouzVO1R&dq=Skinner+Political+Innovation+Conceptual+Change&sig=660qldsyiEPiohCBXir3QqAwCWE#PRA1-PA90,M1 ISBN 0521359783] ]
In other languages meaning can be different. Polish ‘państwo’ can be derived from the word ‘pan’=lord, the one who has power (‘Lord Jesus’=’Pan Jezus’). ‘Państwo’ therefore denotes a state, when someone is governing (is in charge). The word ‘państwo’ also suggest some kind of social organisation, as its second meaning in Polish relates to «family» (państwo Smith = the Smiths).
It has also been claimed that the word «state» originates from the medieval «state» or regal chair upon which the head of state (usually a monarch) would sit. By process of metonymy, the word state became used to refer to both the head of state and the power entity he represented (though the former meaning has fallen out of use).Fact|date=February 2007 Two quotations which reference these different meanings, both commonly, though probably apocryphally, attributed to King Louis XIV of France, are «L’État, c’est moi» («I am the State») and «Je m’en vais, mais l’État demeurera toujours.» («I am going away, but the State will always remain»). A similar association of terms can today be seen in the practice of referring to government buildings as having authority, for example «The White House today released a press statement…».
Empirical and juridical senses of the word state
The word «state» has both an empirical and a juridical sense, i.e., entities can be states either «de facto» or «de jure» or both.Jackson, Robert H., and Carl G. Rosberg. 1982. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0043-8871%28198210%2935%3A1%3C1%3AWAWSPT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K Why Africa’s Weak States Persist: The Empirical and The Juridical in Statehood] . World Politics 35 (1):1-24. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0043-8871%28198210%2935%3A1%3C1%3AWAWSPT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K] ]
Empirically (or de facto), an entity is a state if, as in Max Weber’s influential definition, it is that organization that has a ‘monopoly on legitimate violence’ over a specific territory.Weber, Max. 1994. The Profession and Vocation of Politics. In [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521397197&id=6uA68XdxBv4C&pg=PA394&lpg=PA394 Political Writings] . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521397197&id=6uA68XdxBv4C&pg=PA394&lpg=PA394 ISBN 0521397197] .] Such an entity imposes its own legal order over a territory, even if it is not legally recognized as a state by other states (e.g., the Somali region of Somaliland).
Juridically (or de jure), an entity is a state in international law if it is recognized as such by other states, even if it does not actually have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force over a territory. Only an entity juridically recognized as a state can enter into many kinds of international agreements and be represented in a variety of legal forums, such as the United Nations.
States, government types, and political systems
The concept of the state can be distinguished from two related concepts with which it is sometimes confused: the concept of a form of government or regime, such as democracy or dictatorship, and the concept of a political system. The form of government identifies only one aspect of the state, namely, the way in which the highest political offices are filled and their relationship to each other and to society. It does not include other aspects of the state that may be very important in its everyday functioning, such as the quality of its bureaucracy. For example, two democratic states may be quite different if one has a capable, well-trained bureaucracy or civil service while the other does not. Thus generally speaking the term «state» refers to the instruments of political power, while the terms regime or form of government refers more to the way in which such instruments can be accessed and employed.Bobbio, Norberto. 1989. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0816618135&id=4AE8ur83g8AC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=8883y8Du41&dq=Bobbio+Democracy+and+Dictatorship&sig=kfL3Vpo83GuEdGmhXJMmTIbBNnw Democracy and Dictatorship: The Nature and Limits of State Power] . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0816618135&id=4AE8ur83g8AC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=8883y8Du41&dq=Bobbio+Democracy+and+Dictatorship&sig=kfL3Vpo83GuEdGmhXJMmTIbBNnw ISBN 0816618135] .]
Some scholars have suggested that the term «state» is too imprecise and loaded to be used productively in sociology and political science, and ought to be replaced by the more comprehensive term «political system.» The «political system» refers to the ensemble of all social structures that function to produce collectively binding decisions in a society. In modern times, these would include the political regime, political parties, and various sorts of organizations. The term «political system» thus denotes a broader concept than the state.Easton, David. 1990. The Analysis of Political Structure. New York: Routledge.]
The historical development of the state
The earliest forms of the state emerged whenever it became possible to centralize power in a durable way. Agriculture and writing are almost everywhere associated with this process. Agriculture allowed for the production and storing of a surplus. This in turn allowed and encouraged the emergence of a class of people who controlled and protected the agricultural stores and thus did not have to spend most of their time providing for their own subsistence. In addition, writing (or the equivalent of writing, like Inca quipus) because it made possible the centralization of vital information.Giddens, Anthony. 1987. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0520060393&id=wJu1Z4cTdsIC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=Giddens+Contemporary+Critique+of+Historical+Materialism+the+Nation+State+and+Violence&sig=OwPRjSxlp6Hng4YHp74wHYWSaGQ#PPP1,M1A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism. 3 vols. Vol. II: The Nation-State and Violence] . Cambridge: Polity Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0520060393&id=wJu1Z4cTdsIC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=Giddens+Contemporary+Critique+of+Historical+Materialism+the+Nation+State+and+Violence&sig=OwPRjSxlp6Hng4YHp74wHYWSaGQ#PPP1,M1 ISBN 0520060393] . See [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0520060393&id=wJu1Z4cTdsIC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=Giddens+Contemporary+Critique+of+Historical+Materialism+the+Nation+State+and+Violence&sig=OwPRjSxlp6Hng4YHp74wHYWSaGQ#PPP7,M1 chapter 2] .]
Some political philosophers believe the origins of the state lie ultimately in the tribal culture which developed with human sentience, the template for which was the alleged primal «alpha-male» microsocieties of our earlier ancestors, which were based on the coercion of the weak by the strong. Fact|date=July 2007 However anthropologists point out that extant band- and tribe-level societies are notable for their «lack» of centralized authority, and that highly stratified societies—i.e., states—constitute a relatively recent break with the course of human history. [Boehm, Christopher. 1999. [http://www.google.co.nz/books?id=ljxS8gUlgqgC|Hierarchy in the Forest] . Cambridge: Harvard University Press. [http://www.google.co.nz/books?id=ljxS8gUlgqgC|ISBN 0674006917] .]
The state in classical antiquity
The history of the state in the West usually begins with classical antiquity. During that period, the state took a variety of forms, none of them very much like the modern state. There were monarchies whose power (like that of the Egyptian Pharaoh) was based on the religious function of the king and his control of a centralized army. There were also large, quasi-bureaucratized empires, like the Roman empire, which depended less on the religious function of the ruler and more on effective military and legal organizations and the cohesion of an aristocracy.
Perhaps the most important political innovations of classical antiquity came from the Greek city-states and the Roman Republic. The Greek city-states before the 4th century granted citizenship rights to their free population, and in Athens these rights were combined with a directly democratic form of government that was to have a long afterlife in political thought and history.
In contrast, Rome developed from a monarchy into a republic, governed by a senate dominated by the Roman aristocracy. The Roman political system contributed to the development of law, constitutionalism and to the distinction between the private and the public spheres.
From the feudal state to the modern state in the West
The story of the development of the specifically modern state in the West typically begins with the dissolution of the western Roman empire. This led to the fragmentation of the imperial state into the hands of private and decentralized lords whose political, judicial, and military roles corresponded to the organization of economic production. In these conditions, according to Marxists, the economic unit of society corresponded exactly to the state on the local level.
The state-system of feudal Europe was an unstable configuration of suzerains and anointed kings. A monarch, formally at the head of a hierarchy of sovereigns, was not an absolute power who could rule at will; instead, relations between lords and monarchs were mediated by varying degrees of mutual dependence, which was ensured by the absence of a centralized system of taxation. This reality ensured that each ruler needed to obtain the ‘consent’ of each estate in the realm. This was not quite a ‘state’ in the Weberian sense of the term, since the king did not monopolize either the power of lawmaking (which was shared with the church) or the means of violence (which were shared with the nobles).
The formalization of the struggles over taxation between the monarch and other elements of society (especially the nobility and the cities) gave rise to what is now called the Standestaat, or the state of Estates, characterized by parliaments in which key social groups negotiated with the king about legal and economic matters. These estates of the realm sometimes evolved in the direction of fully-fledged parliaments, but sometimes lost out in their struggles with the monarch, leading to greater centralization of lawmaking and coercive (chiefly military) power in his hands. Beginning in the 15th century, this centralizing process gave rise to the absolutist state.Poggi, G. 1978. The Development of the Modern State: A Sociological Introduction. Stanford: Stanford University Press.]
The modern state
The rise of the «modern state» as a public power constituting the supreme political authority within a defined territory is associated with western Europe’s gradual institutional development beginning in earnest in the late 15th century, culminating in the rise of absolutism and capitalism.
As Europe’s dynastic states — England under the Tudors, Spain under the Habsburgs, and France under the Bourbons — embarked on a variety of programs designed to increase centralized political and economic control, they increasingly exhibited many of the institutional features that characterize the «modern state.» This centralization of power involved the delineation of political boundaries, as European monarchs gradually defeated or co-opted other sources of power, such as the Church and lesser nobility. In place of the fragmented system of feudal rule, with its often indistinct territorial claims, large, unitary states with extensive control over definite territories emerged. This process gave rise to the highly centralized and increasingly bureaucratic forms of absolute monarchical rule of the 17th and 18th centuries, when the principal features of the contemporary state system took form, including the introduction of a standing army, a central taxation system, diplomatic relations with permanent embassies, and the development of state economic policy—mercantilism.
Cultural and national homogenization figured prominently in the rise of the modern state system. Since the absolutist period, states have largely been organized on a national basis. The concept of a national state, however, is not synonymous with nation-state. Even in the most ethnically homogeneous societies there is not always a complete correspondence between state and nation, hence the active role often taken by the state to promote nationalism through emphasis on shared symbols and national identity.Breuilly, John. 1993. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0719038006&id=6sEVmFtkpngC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=jaRrjiINsh&dq=Breuilly+Nationalism+and+the+State&sig=xdUZ4zKU-os0Mx75Wk9gO3LuYhU Nationalism and the State] . New York: St. Martin’s Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0719038006&id=6sEVmFtkpngC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=jaRrjiINsh&dq=Breuilly+Nationalism+and+the+State&sig=xdUZ4zKU-os0Mx75Wk9gO3LuYhU ISBN SBN0719038006] .]
It is in this period that the term «the state» is first introduced into political discourse in more or less its current meaning. Although Niccolò Machiavelli is often credited with first using the term to refer to a territorial sovereign government in the modern sense in «The Prince», published in 1532, it is not until the time of the British thinkers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and the French thinker Jean Bodin that the concept in its current meaning is fully developed.
Today, most Western states more or less fit the influential definition of the state in Max Weber’s «Politics as a Vocation». According to Weber, the modern state monopolizes the means of legitimate physical violence over a well-defined territory. Moreover, the legitimacy of this monopoly itself is of a very special kind, «rational-legal» legitimacy, based on impersonal rules that constrain the power of state elites.
However, in some other parts of the world states do not fit Weber’s definition as well. They may not have a complete monopoly over the means of legitimate physical violence over a definite territory, or their legitimacy may not be adequately described as rational-legal. But they are still recognizably distinct from feudal and absolutist states in the extent of their bureaucratization and their reliance on nationalism as a principle of legitimation.
Since Weber, an extensive literature on the processes by which the «modern state» emerged from the feudal state has been generated. Marxist scholars, for example, assert that the formation of modern states can be explained primarily in terms of the interests and struggles of social classes.Anderson, Perry. 1979. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN086091710X&id=EhtMbM1Z8BkC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=kKEFE8hSdz&dq=Perry+Anderson+Lineages+of+the+Absolutist+State&sig=6wtAz_EZf89y2x2Y6bZB3Rgkh6Y Lineages of the absolutist state] . London: Verso. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN086091710X&id=EhtMbM1Z8BkC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=kKEFE8hSdz&dq=Perry+Anderson+Lineages+of+the+Absolutist+State&sig=6wtAz_EZf89y2x2Y6bZB3Rgkh6Y ISBN 086091710X] .]
Scholars working in the broad Weberian tradition, by contrast, have often emphasized the institution-building effects of war. For example, Charles Tilly has argued that the revenue-gathering imperatives forced on nascent states by geopolitical competition and constant warfare were mostly responsible for the development of the centralized, territorial bureaucracies that characterize modern states in Europe. States that were able to develop centralized tax-gathering bureaucracies and to field mass armies survived into the modern era; states that were not able to do so did not.Tilly, Charles. 1992. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1557863687&id=w4zjW_RjNb0C&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&ots=uKjqZcZf6T&dq=Coercion,+Capital,+and+European+States&sig=UjCM07nwXyw8otUoSLTmdiKYUs4 Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990-1992] . Cambridge, Massachusetts: B. Blackwell. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1557863687&id=w4zjW_RjNb0C&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&ots=uKjqZcZf6T&dq=Coercion,+Capital,+and+European+States&sig=UjCM07nwXyw8otUoSLTmdiKYUs4 ISBN 1557863687] .]
State and civil society
The modern state is both separate from and connected to civil society. The nature of this connection has been the subject of considerable attention in both analyses of state development and normative theories of the state. Earlier thinkers, such as Thomas Hobbes emphasized the supremacy of the state over society. Later thinkers, by contrast, beginning with G. W. F. Hegel, have tended to emphasize the points of contact between them. Jürgen Habermas, for example, has argued that civil society forms a public sphere, that is, a site of extra-institutional engagement with matters of public interest autonomous from the state and yet necessarily connected with it.
Some Marxist theorists, such as Antonio Gramsci, have questioned the distinction between the state and civil society altogether, arguing that the former is integrated into many parts of the latter. Others, such as Louis Althusser, maintain that civil organizations such as churches, schools, and even trade unions are part of an ‘ideological state apparatus.’ In this sense, the state can fund a number of groups within society that, while autonomous in principle, are dependent on state support.
Given the role that many social groups have in the development of public policy and the extensive connections between state bureaucracies and other institutions, it has become increasingly difficult to identify the boundaries of the state. Privatization, nationalization, and the creation of new regulatory bodies also change the boundaries of the state in relation to society. Often the nature of quasi-autonomous organizations is unclear, generating debate among political scientists on whether they are part of the state or civil society. Some political scientists thus prefer to speak of policy networks and decentralized governance in modern societies rather than of state bureaucracies and direct state control over policy. [Kjaer, Anne Mette. 2004. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0745629792 Governance] . London: Verso. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0745629792 ISBN 0745629792] ] Alfred Stepan also introduced the idea of `political society’ those organisations that move periodically between the state and non-state sectors (such as Political Parties). Whaites has argued that in developing countries there are dangers inherent in promoting strong civil society where states are weak, risks that should be considered and mitigated by those funding civil society or advocating its role as an alternative source of service provision [Alan Whaites. 1998. Viewpoint NGOs, civil society and the state: avoiding theoretical extremes in real world issues [http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713661019~db=all~order=page Development in Practice] ] .
The state and the international system
Since the late 19th century the entirety of the world’s inhabitable land has been parceled up into states with more or less definite borders claimed by various states. Earlier, quite large land areas had been either unclaimed or uninhabited, or inhabited by nomadic peoples who were not organized as states. Currently more than 200 states comprise the international community, with the vast majority of them represented in the United Nations.
These states form what International relations theorists call a system, where each state takes into account the behavior of other states when making their own calculations. From this point of view, states embedded in an international system face internal and external security and legitimation dilemmas. Recently the notion of an «international community» has been developed to refer to a group of states who have established , procedures, and institutions for the conduct of their relations. In this way the foundation has been laid for international law, diplomacy, formal regimes, and organizations.
The state and supranationalism
In the late 20th century, the globalization of the world economy, the mobility of people and capital, and the rise of many international institutions all combined to circumscribe the freedom of action of states. These constraints on the state’s freedom of action are accompanied in some areas, notably Western Europe, with projects for interstate integration such as the European Union. However, the state remains the basic political unit of the world, as it has been since the 16th century. The state is therefore considered the most central concept in the study of politics, and its definition is the subject of intense scholarly debate.
The state and international law
By modern practice and the law of international relations, a state’s sovereignty is conditional upon the diplomatic recognition of the state’s claim to statehood. Degrees of recognition and sovereignty may vary. However, any degree of recognition, even recognition by a majority of the states in the international system, is not binding on third-party states.
The legal criteria for statehood are not obvious. Often, the laws are surpassed by political circumstances. However, one of the documents often quoted on the matter is the Montevideo Convention from 1933, the first article of which states:
:The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
Contemporary approaches to the study of the state
There are three main traditions within political science and sociology that shape ‘theories of the state’: the pluralist, the Marxist, and the institutionalist. In addition, anarchists present a tradition which is similar to, but different from, the Marxian one.
Each of these theories has been employed to gain understanding on the state, while recognizing its complexity. Several issues underlie this complexity. First, the boundaries of the state sector are not clearly defined, while they change constantly. Second, the state is not only the site of conflict between different organizations, but also internal conflict and conflict within organizations. Some scholars speak of the ‘state’s interest,’ but there are often various interests within different parts of the state that are neither solely state-centered nor solely society-centered, but develop between different groups in civil society and different state actors.
Pluralism
Pluralism has been very popular in the United States. In fact, it might be seen as the dominant vision of politics in that country.
Within this tradition, Robert Dahl sees the state as either (1) a neutral arena for settling disputes among contending interests or (2) a collection of agencies which themselves act as simply another set of interest groups. With power diffused across society among many competing groups, state policy is a product of recurrent bargaining. Although pluralism recognizes the existence of inequality, it asserts that all groups have an opportunity to pressure the state. The pluralist approach suggests that the modern democratic state’s actions are the result of pressures applied by a variety of organized interests. Dahl called this kind of state a polyarchy. [Robert Dahl. 1973. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0135969816&id=9XY5gFcp6n0C&q=Dahl+Modern+Political+Analysis&dq=Dahl+Modern+Political+Analysis&pgis=1 Modern Political Analysis] . Prentice Hall. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0135969816&id=9XY5gFcp6n0C&q=Dahl+Modern+Political+Analysis&dq=Dahl+Modern+Political+Analysis&pgis=1 ISBN 0135969816] ]
In some ways, the development of the pluralist school is a response to the «power elite» theory presented in 1956 by the sociologist C. Wright Mills concerning the U.S. and furthered by research by G. William Domhoff, among others. In that theory, the most powerful elements of the political, military, and economic parts of U.S. society are united at the top of the political system, acting to serve their common interests. The «masses» were left out of the political process. In context, it might said that Mills saw the U.S. elite as in part being very similar to that of the Soviet Union, then the major geopolitical rival of the U.S. One response was the sociologist Arnold M. Rose’s publication of «The Power Structure: Political Process in American Society» in 1967. He argued that the distribution of power in the U.S. was more diffuse and pluralistic in nature.
The importance of democratic elections of political leaders in the U.S. (and not the Soviet Union) provides evidence in favor of the pluralist perspective for that country. We might reconcile power elite theory with pluralism in terms of Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of democracy. To him, «democracy» involved the (non-elite) masses choosing «which» elite would have the power.
The absence of democratic elections do not rule out pluralism, however. The old Soviet Union is sometimes described as being ruled by an elite, which ran society via a bureaucracy which united the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the military, and Gosplan, the economic planning apparatus. However, bureaucratic rule from above is never perfect. This meant that, so to some extent, Soviet policies reflected a pluralistic competition of interest groups within the Party, the military, and Gosplan, including factory managers.
Marxism
Marxist theories of the state were relatively influential in continental Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. But it is hard to summarize the theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. After all, the effort by Hal Draper to distill their political thinking in his «Karl Marx’s Theory of Revolution» (Monthly Review Press) took several thick volumes. But many have tried.
For Marxist theorists, the role of modern states is determined or related to their role in capitalist societies. They would agree with Weber on the crucial role of coercion in defining the state. (In fact, Weber himself starts his analysis with a quotation from Leon Trotsky, a Bolshevik leader.) But Marxists reject the mainstream liberal view that the state is an institution established in the collective interest of society as a whole (perhaps by a social contract) to reconcile competing interests in the name of the common good. Contrary to the pluralist vision, the state is not a mere «neutral arena for settling disputes among contending interests» because it leans heavily to support one interest group (the capitalists) alone. Nor does the state usually act as merely a «collection of agencies which themselves act as simply another set of interest groups,» again because of the state’s systematic bias toward serving capitalist interests.
In contrast to liberal or pluralist views, the American economist Paul Sweezy and other Marxian thinkers have pointed out that the main job of the state is to protect capitalist property rights in the means of production. At first, this seems hardly controversial. After all, many economics and politics textbooks refer to the state’s crucial role in defending property rights and in enforcing contracts. But the capitalists own a share of the means of production that is far out of proportion to the capitalists’ role in the total population. More importantly, in Marxian theory, ownership of the means of production gives that minority social power over those who do not own the means of production (the workers). Because of that power, i.e., the power to exploit and dominate the working class, the state’s defense of them is nothing but the use of coercion to defend capitalism as a class society. [Sweezy, Paul. 1942. The Theory of Capitalist Development. New York: Monthly Review, ch. 13.] Instead of serving the interests of society as a whole, in this view the state serves those of a small minority of the population.
Among Marxists, as with other topics, there are many debates about the nature and role of the capitalist state. One division is between the «instrumentalists» and the «structuralists.»
On the first, some contemporary Marxists apply a literal interpretation of the comment by Marx and Frederich Engels in «The Communist Manifesto» that «The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.» In this tradition, Ralph Miliband argued that the ruling class uses the state as its «instrument» (tool) to dominate society in a straightforward way. For Miliband, the state is dominated by an elite that comes from the same background as the capitalist class and therefore shares many of the same goals. State officials therefore share the same interests as owners of capital and are linked to them through a wide array of interpersonal and political ties. [Miliband, Ralph. 1983. Class power and state power. London: Verso.] In many ways, this theory is similar to the «power elite» theory of C. Wright Mills.
Miliband’s research is specific to the United Kingdom, where the class system has traditionally been integrated strongly into the educational system (Eton, Oxbridge, etc.) and social networks. In the United States, the educational system and social networks are more heterogeneous and seem less class-dominated to many. But a social connection between state managers and the capitalist class can be seen in the dependence of the major politicians and their parties on campaign contributions from the rich, on approval from the capitalist-owned media, on advice from corporate-endowed «think tanks,» and the like.
In the second view, other Marxist theorists argue that the exact names, biographies, and social roles of those who control the state are irrelevant. Instead, they emphasize the «structural» role of the state’s activities. Heavily influenced by the French philosopher Louis Althusser, Nicos Poulantzas, a Greek neo-Marxist theorist argued that capitalist states do not always act on behalf of the ruling class, and when they do, it is not necessarily the case because state officials consciously strive to do so, but because the structural position of the state is configured in such a way to ensure that the interests of capital are always dominant.
Poulantzas’ main contribution to the Marxian literature on the state was the concept of «relative autonomy» of the state: state policies do not correspond exactly to the collective or long-term interests of the capitalist class, but help maintain and preserve capitalism over the long haul. The «power elite,» if one exists, may act in ways that go against the wishes of capitalists. While Poulantzas’ work on ‘state autonomy’ has served to sharpen and specify a great deal of Marxist literature on the state, his own framework came under criticism for its «structural functionalism.»
But this kind of criticism can be answered by considering what happens if state managers «do not» work to favor the operations of capitalism as a class society. [ Fred Block. 1977 «The Ruling Class Does Not Rule.» «Socialist Revolution» May-June.] They find that the economy are punished by a capital strike or capital flight, encouraging higher unemployment, a decline in tax receipts, and international financial problems. The decline in tax revenues makes it more necessary to borrow from the bourgeoisie. Because the latter will charge high interest rates (especially to a government seen as hostile), the state’s financial problems deepen. Such events might be seen in Chile in 1973, under Salvador Allende’s Unidad Popular government. Added to the relatively «automatic» workings of the economy (under the spur of profit-seeking businesses) are the ways in which an anti-capitalist government provokes anti-government conspiracies, including those by the Central Intelligence Agency and local political forces, as actually happened in 1973.
Unless they are ready to actually mobilize the working population to revolutionize society and move beyond capitalism, «sober» state managers will pull back from anti-capitalist policies. In any event, they would likely never go so far as to «rock the boat» because of their acceptance of the dominant ideology encouraged by the prevailing educational system.
Despite the debates among Marxist theorists of the state, there are also many agreements. It is possible that both «instrumental» and «structural» forces encourage political unity of the state managers with the capitalist class. That is, both the personal influence of capitalists and the societal constraints on state activity play a role.
Of course, no matter how strong this link, the Marx-Engels dictum that «The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie» does not say that the executive will always do a «good job» in such management. (As Poulantzas pointed out, the state maintains some autonomy.) First, there is the problem of reconciling the particular interests of individual capitalist organizations with each other. For example, different parts of the media may disagree on the nature of needed government regulations. Further, it is often unclear what the long-run class interests of capitalists are, beyond the simple defense of capitalist property rights. It may be impossible to discover class interests until after the fact, i.e., after a policy has been implemented. Third, state managers may use their administrative power to serve their own interests and even to facilitate their entrance into the capitalist class.
Finally, pressure from working-class organizations (labor unions, social-democratic parties, etc.) or other non-capitalist forces (environmentalists, etc.) may push the state from toeing the capitalist «line» exactly. In the end, these problems imply that the state will always have some autonomy from obeying the exact wishes of the capitalist class.
In this view, the Marxian theory of the state does not really contradict the pluralist vision of the state as an arena for the contention of many interest groups, including those based in the state itself. Rather, the Marxian proposition is that this multi-sided competition and its results are strongly «biased» in the direction of reproducing the capitalist system over time.
It should be emphasized that all of the Marxist theories of the state discussed above refer only to the «capitalist» state in «normal» times (without civil war and the like). During a period of economic and social crisis, the absolute need to maintain order may raise the power of the military — and military goals — in governmental affairs, sometimes even leading to the violation of capitalist property rights.
In a non-capitalist system such as feudalism, Marxian historians have said that the state did not really exist in the sense that it does today (using Weber’s definition). That is, the central state did not monopolize force in a specific geographic area. The feudal king typically had to depend on the military power of his «lieges.» This meant that the country was more of an alliance than a unified whole. Further, the difference between the state and civil society was weak: the feudal lords were not simply involved in «economic» activity (production, sale, etc.) but also «political» activity: they used force against their serfs (to extract rents), while acting as judge, jury, and police.
Getting further beyond capitalism, Marxist theory says that since the state is central to protecting class inequality, it will «wither away» once class inequality of power is abolished. In practice, no self-styled Marxist leader or government has ever made attempts to move toward a society without a state. Of course, that is to be expected. After all, no society has ever completely abolished classes. In addition, no self-described «socialist» country has been able to do without a military defense against capitalist invasion or destabilization. Third, in Marxian theory, impetus for the abolition of the state would not come from the leaders or the government themselves as much as from the working people that they are supposed to represent.
Anarchism
The anarchists share many of the Marxian propositions about the state. But in contrast, anarchists argue that a country’s collective interests can be served without having a centralized organization. The maintenance of law and order does not require that there be a sector of society that monopolizes the legitimate use of force. It is possible for society to prosper without a state, even without a long period of classes «withering away.» In fact, anarchists see the state as a parasite that can and should be abolished.
Thus, they oppose the state as a matter of principle and reject the Marxian view that it may be needed temporarily as part of a transition to socialism or communism. They propose different strategies for the elimination of the state. There is a dichotomy of views regarding its replacement. Anarcho-capitalists envision a free market guided by the invisible hand offering critical or valuable functions traditionally provided by to replace the state; other anarchists (such as Bakunin and Kropotkin in the 19th century) tend to put less emphasis on markets, arguing for a form of socialism without the state. Such socialism would require worker self-management of the means of production and the federation of worker organizations in communes which will then federate into larger units.
Anarchists consider the state to be the institutionalization of domination and privilege. According to key theoristsFact|date=November 2007, the state emerged to ratify and deepen the dominance of the victors of history. Unlike Marxists, anarchists believe that the state, while reflecting social interests, is not a mere executive committee of the ruling class. In itself, without class rule, it is a position of power over the whole society that can dominate and exploit society. Naturally enough, many fractions of the ruling classes and even the oppressed classes strive to control the state, forming different and ever-changing alliances.Fact|date=November 2007 They also reject the need for a state to serve the collective needs of the people. Hence, they reject not only the current state, but the Marxian idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat). Instead, they see the state as an inherently oppressive force which takes away the ability of people to make decisions about the things that affect their lives.
Institutionalism
Both the Marxist and pluralist approaches view the state as reacting to the activities of groups within society, such as classes or interest groups. In this sense, they have both come under criticism for their ‘society-centered’ understanding of the state by scholars who emphasize the autonomy of the state with respect to social forces.
In particular, the «new institutionalism,» an approach to politics that holds that behavior is fundamentally molded by the institutions in which it is embedded, asserts that the state is not an ‘instrument’ or an ‘arena’ and does not ‘function’ in the interests of a single class. Scholars working within this approach stress the importance of interposing civil society between the economy and the state to explain variation in state forms.
«New institutionalist» writings on the state, such as the works of Theda Skocpol, suggest that state actors are to an important degree autonomous. In other words, state personnel have interests of their own, which they can and do pursue independently (at times in conflict with) actors in society. Since the state controls the means of coercion, and given the dependence of many groups in civil society on the state for achieving any goals they may espouse, state personnel can to some extent impose their own preferences on civil society. [Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Theda Skocpol, and Peter B. Evans, eds. 1985. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521313139&id=sYgTwHQbNAAC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=Jyo8optLgc&dq=Skocpol+Rueschemeyer+Bringing+the+State+Back+In&sig=1m3dvluBo9jULIAoYBzEdhVnIeU Bringing the State Back In] . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521313139&id=sYgTwHQbNAAC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=Jyo8optLgc&dq=Skocpol+Rueschemeyer+Bringing+the+State+Back+In&sig=1m3dvluBo9jULIAoYBzEdhVnIeU ISBN 0521313139] .]
‘New institutionalist’ writers, claiming allegiance to Weber, often utilize the distinction between ‘strong states’ and ‘weak states,’ claiming that the degree of ‘relative autonomy’ of the state from pressures in society determines the power of the state—a position that has found favor in the field of international political economy.
The state in modern political thought
The rise of the modern state system was closely related to changes in political thought, especially concerning the changing understanding of legitimate state power. Early modern defenders of absolutism such as Thomas Hobbes and Jean Bodin undermined the doctrine of the divine right of kings by arguing that the power of kings should be justified by reference to the people. Hobbes in particular went further and argued that political power should be justified with reference to the individual, not just to the people understood collectively. Both Hobbes and Bodin thought they were defending the power of kings, not advocating democracy, but their arguments about the nature of sovereignty were fiercely resisted by more traditional defenders of the power of kings, like Sir Robert Filmer in England, who thought that such defenses ultimately opened the way to more democratic claims.
These and other early thinkers introduced two important concepts in order to justify sovereign power: the idea of a state of nature and the idea of a social contract. The first concept describes an imagined situation in which the state — understood as a centralized, coercive power — does not exist, and human beings have all their natural rights and powers; the second describes the conditions under which a voluntary agreement could take human beings out of the state of nature and into a state of civil society. Depending on what they understood human nature to be and the natural rights they thought human beings had in that state, various writers were able to justify more or less extensive forms of the state as a remedy for the problems of the state of nature. Thus, for example, Hobbes, who described the state of nature as a «war of every man, against every man,» [Hobbes, Thomas. 1651. [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/Hobbes0123/Leviathan1909/HTMLs/0161_Pt02_Part1.html#LF-BK0161pt01ch13 Leviathan] . Part I, chapter 13.] argued that sovereign power should be almost absolute since almost all sovereign power would be better than such a war, whereas John Locke, who understood the state of nature in more positive terms, thought that state power should be strictly limited. [Locke, John. 1689. [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/HTML.php?recordID=0364#hd_lf128-04_head_025 Two Treatises of Government] . Second Treatise, chapter 2.] Both of them nevertheless understood the powers of the state to be limited by what rational individuals would agree to in a hypothetical or actual social contract.
The idea of the social contract lent itself to more democratic interpretations than Hobbes or Locke would have wanted. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for example, argued that the only valid social contract would be one were individuals would be subject to laws that only themselves had made and assented to, as in a small direct democracy. Today the tradition of social contract reasoning is alive in the work of John Rawls and his intellectual heirs, though in a very abstract form. Rawls argued that rational individuals would only agree to social institutions specifying a set of inviolable basic liberties and a certain amount of redistribution to alleviate inequalities for the benefit of the worst off. Lockean state of nature reasoning, by contrast, is more common in the libertarian tradition of political thought represented by the work of Robert Nozick. Nozick argued that given the natural rights that human beings would have in a state of nature, the only state that could be justified would be a minimal state whose sole functions would be to provide protection and enforce agreements.
Some contemporary thinkers, such as Michel Foucault, have argued that political theory needs to get away from the notion of the state: «We need to cut off the king’s head. In political theory that has still to be done.» [Foucault, Michel. 2000 [1976] . Truth and Power. In [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1565847091 Power] , edited by J. D. Fearon. New York: The New Press, p. 123. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1565847091 ISBN 1565847091] ] By this he meant that power in the modern world is much more decentralized and uses different instruments than power in the early modern era, so that the notion of a sovereign, centralized state is increasingly out of date.
Others have advocated the consideration of the state within the context of complex underlying elite relationships, themselves shaped by factors that include outside pressures. This work has been prominent in the thinking of State-building theorists such as Alan Whaites, who focuses on dynamics shaping the nature and capability of states. Whaites’ model of state-building offers a conceptualization of why some states work well and others become characterized by patronage, corruption and conflict. [Whaites, Alan, States in Development: Understanding State-building, [http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/State-in-Development-Wkg-Paper.pdf] ]
See also
* Country
* Elite theory
* Failed state
* International relations
* List of countries by date of nationhood
* List of sovereign states
* Montevideo Convention
* Nation
* Nation-building
* Police state
* Political power
* Political settlement
* Province
* Regional state
* Social contract
* State-building
* State country
* Statism
* The justification of the state
* The purpose of government
* U.S. state
* Unitary state
References
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