State
The state is a political institution. People al ove the world live in a state.
In our world, there are 200 small or large states. Every state has its define
territory and population. Besides, in order to operate a state, government and
sovereignty are two important ingredients. No state can exist without the
above conditions. Professor Garner said, ‘an independent population
permanently residing in a definite territory, allegiant to the organized
government by nature and free from external enemies is called the state.
Analyzing this definition, we get four elements of a state, such as –
1) Population
2) Definite territory
3) Government and
4) Sovereignty.
1) Population: Population is an inevitable element of state formation.
If a population permanently resides in a definite territory, a state can
appear to exist. However, there is no fixed rule about how much population is
required for a state to form. For example, the population in Bangladesh is 150
million, in India 1210 million (2011) and in Brunei, it is about 400,000
(2015). According to the views of political scientists, the population of a
state should be consistent with the resources it possesses.
2) Definite territory: In order to form a state, a definite territory
is obligatory. The territory comprises land, water and sky areas. A state can
be either small or large. For example, Bangladesh has an area of 1,47,570
square kilometers. But according to the signed land boundary agreement between
Bangladesh and India, the exchange of enclaves between two countries on 31
July 2015 resulted in an addition of 10,050.61 acres of land to the total land
of Bangladesh. Besides, the maritime area of Bangladesh has been increased. At
present, the sovereignty of Bangladesh has been established on 1,18,813 sq. km
in the maritime area. The People’s Republic of China, the United States and
Canada are larger than Bangladesh in terms of area.
3) Government: Government is an essential element of a state. No state
can exist without a government. Government operates all state activities. The
government consists of three organs: legislative, executive and judiciary.
Though the formation of government is the same in all states, forms of
government vary from state to state. For example, in Bangladesh, we have the
parliamentary form of government, but in the United States, it is the
presidential form of government. Government operates all the functions of the
state.
4) Sovereignty: Sovereignty is the most important and inevitable
element of a state. This is the absolute power of the state. There are two
facets of it, such as internal and external. Internal sovereignty means that
the state exercises its authority over individuals and associations through
fiats. On the other hand, external sovereignty keeps the state free from
external control.
Origin of the State
It is hard to say when and how the state originated. Political scientists,
having examined history, past political events, have given some theories about
the origin of the state. These theories are –
1) Divine theory
2) Force theory
3) Social Contract theory and
4) Historical or Evolutionary theory
1) Divine theory: This is the oldest theory related to the origin of
the state. According to this theory, God himself created the state and He sent
rulers to run the state in the right direction. Rulers are the representatives
of God and are only accountable to God for their deeds. They are not
accountable to the people. Just as rulers rule as per the instructions of God,
so the violation of rulers’ instructions is tantamount to the violation of
God’s instructions. According to this theory, rulers combine the duties of
Head of State and Head of Religious institutions. Modern political scientists
criticized this theory as dangerous, undemocratic and irrational. In their
views, where rulers are not accountable to the people, there develops
autocracy.
2) Force theory: The main idea of this theory is that the state has
come into existence by force and it continues to exist by force. It is stated
in this theory that powerful persons in the society through warfare or by
applying force have established control over the weaker sections and
established state. From the creation to date, this is how states have come to
existence. Critics labeled this theory irrational and wrong. They said that if
states had survived by force, militarily weak states would have failed to
survive. As a matter of fact, it is not the force; rather, states exist and
survive on the basis of consent.
3) Social contract theory: The gist of this theory is that the state
has come into existence through mutual contract among the people living in the
society. The architects of Social Contract Theory were British philosophers
John Locke and Thomas Hobbes and French philosopher Jean Jack Rousseau.
According to this theory, before the birth of the state, man lived in the
state of nature. But there was no authority to punish the offenders who
violated laws in the state of nature. As a result, anarchy and disorder were
created in social life. Men became selfish and egoistic. The strong in the
society tortured the weak. Consequently, people’s lives were pains and
unbearable. In addition, with the rise of population, the aspiration and
necessity for having private property began to grow among the people. In order
to get rid of such anarchy, people entered into signing a contract, thus
creating the state. People conferred power upon this authority to rule over
themselves in exchange for giving security to them.
4) Historical or Evolutionary theory: This theory states that the state
was not changes of different forces and elements at different stages in
society. The state emerged after the confluence of elements like kinship,
religious ties, wars, economic and political consciousness and activities. As
regards historical or evolutionary theory, Dr. Garner said, ‘State is not the
creation of God, nor the creation of force rather been created out of
historical evolution. Of all the theories related to the origin of the state,
historical or evolutionary theory is the most logical and acceptable. This
theory gives the right explanation as to the origin of the state. In fact, the
state that exists at present is the result of the long historical evolution.
