Political Science

STATE,
GOVERNMENT,
SOCIETY AND
NATION
-)
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Agarwal R.C. , Political Theory (8th Edition, S.
Chand & Company Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2008),
page 64-81 & page- 82-96
 Mahajan Vidya Dhar, Political Theory (5th

Edition, S. Chand & Company Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 2013), Page 120-157 & Page 109-119
 Johari J.C, Principles of Modern Political Science

(2nd Edition, Sterling Publishers Private Limited,
New Delhi, 2009), Page 39-74
 Gauba O.P, An Introduction To Political
Science (6th Edition, Macmillian Publisher,
2013), Page 146-176.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 To understand the concept of State,

Government, Society and Nation.
 To understand the relationships between

State, Government, Society and Nation.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 Explain the concept of State, Government,

Society and Nation?
 What is the relationship of State,

Government, Society and Nation with each
other?
STATE
 The concept of the State is modern and owes its
origin to Machiavelli who expressed this idea of power
which has authority over men.
 The word ‘state’ in a literal sense can be used in

different ways. It refers to a ‘condition ‘or to a
‘description of things; it also refers to anything that is
‘official’ in contrast to a thing that is under private
ownership and control; it can also be used as the
synonym of the ‘government’.
 But in political theory, it has a technical expression
implying a human association having four essential
elements-population, territory, government, and
sovereignty.
 According to MacIver,” The state is an association

which, acting through law as promulgated by a
government endowed to this end with coercive power,
maintains within a community territorially demarcated
the universal external conditions of social order.”
 Dr. Garner,” State as a concept of political science and

public law, is a community of persons more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of
territory , independent or nearly so , of external control
and possessing an organised government to which the
great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience.”
GOVERNMENT
 According to J.W Garner, ‘government is the agency
or machinery through which common policies are
determined and by which common affairs are
regulated and common interests are promoted’
 It is the political organisation through which

collective will of the people is formulated,
expressed and executed. The government functions
through three agencies, i.e. the Executive, the
Legislature and the Judiciary.
 According to Giddings, the government is “the
chief progressive organisation of civil society.”
 There cannot be a state without government. The

organisation of the government may be simple and
its function may be few, but its necessity cannot
be defined.
 It acts as the political organisation that makes an

attempt to see whether the essential relationship
between command and obedience has been well
established.
SOCIETY
 MacIver and Charles Page wrote that,” Society is a
system of usages and procedures, of authority and
mutual aid, of many groupings and divisions, of
controls and human behaviour and of liberties. This
ever changing complex system we call society. It is
the web of social relationships. And it is always
changing.”
 Society liberates and limits the activities of man. It

also sets up standards for them to follow and
maintain.
 Man is dependent on the society for protection,
comfort, nurture, education, opportunity, and the
multitude of definite services which the society
provides. His birth in society brings with it the
absolute need of the society itself.
 Talcott Parsons, a sociologist says, “The arrangement

encompassing the most inclusive and continuous
relationships in terms of which man pursued his
fulfilment and survival is called society.”
NATION
 The term “Nation” according to Ram Muir, “is a
body of people who feel themselves to be
naturally linked together by certain affinities
which are so strong and real for them that they
can live happily together, are dissatisfied when
disunited and cannot tolerate subjection to
peoples who do not share these ties.”
 It is a social concept with no uncontroversial

definition, but which is most commonly used to
designate larger groups or collectives of people
with common characteristics attributed to them
including language, traditions, customs (mores),
habits and ethnicity.
STATE AND GOVERNMENT
 The government exercises all the authority and
functions on behalf of the state. The state is a bigger
unit that includes all the citizens of a country, but
the government is a smaller unit that includes only
those who are employed to perform its function.
 The state serves as a symbol of unity among the

people. It inspires unity among the people and
provides them with an identity as a nation. But, the
Government only represents a working arrangement
to carry out the functions of the society. It
commands our obedience and also commands our
loyalty.
 Government can be good or bad, efficient or inefficient, but
the state will always continue to be a symbol of national
greatness.
 If the government loses its credibility, it should either be

replaced according to the established or the credibility of the
state would get eroded.
 The idealist theory tends to ignore the distinction between

state and the government and creates an image of the perfect
state.
 The liberal-democratic theory treats the state as a product of

the ‘will of the society’ and of securing interests.
 Marxist theory treats government as an agency of the state. It

regards the state itself as an instrument of class exploitation,
and advocates transformation, and ultimate withering away,
of the state in order to restore authority to a classless
society.
STATE AND SOCIETY
 Society is an association of human beings which fulfils
all their needs of life-from cradle to grave. The state
fulfils their particular need of political organisation-it
subjects them to binding laws and decisions to
provide for order and security, and common services.
 When a society is governed by a common set of rules,

regulations and a supreme decision-making authority,
only does it qualify for being a state.
 Society may coincide with state, especially when

society takes the form of a nation. There can also be
a society within the state, such as village community.
 The state is formed out of a society. So, society
is a primary association. It is the society that
chooses the pattern of its political grouping.
 State may be created, destroyed, altered or

dissolved but society goes on forever.
STATE AND NATION
The modern state usually takes the form of a nation-state.
ANation grows on a much wider base. It refers to a group of

people bound together by the sentiments of nationality. As
such, it has a spiritual existence and the binding force may
draw sustenance from the commonness of race, religion,
culture etc.
But
the state is a political entity constituted by four elements.
Most of the states are the nation –states. But there may be
multinational state.
 The state is a sovereign and a coercive
association, the nation is just a group of
people by the ties of sentiments. A nation
has no force to coerce others but a state
has. When a nation becomes a political
entity, it becomes a nation state and then
it has the coercive power to deal with its
enemies.
CONCLUSION
 At the end of the project, the research scholar got the
clear idea on the concept of State, Government, Society
and the Nation. These entire four concepts share a clear
relationship and are quite connected to each other.
 The research scholar in this project tried to interpret

this relationship and found that while the state is a
bigger unit that includes all the citizens of a country,
but the government is a smaller unit that includes only
those who are employed to perform its function.
 Thus, from this it can be interpreted that these four

concepts have a clear line of distinction between them
and one concept cannot be used as the ‘synonym ‘for
the other.
BIBILOGRAPHY
 Johari J.C, Principles of Modern Political
Science (2nd Edition, Sterling Publishers Private
Limited, New Delhi, 2009)
 Mahajan Vidya Dhar, Political Theory (5th
Edition, S. Chand & Company Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, 2013)
 Gauba O.P, An Introduction To Political Science
(6th Edition, Macmillian Publisher, 2013)
 Agarwal R.C., Political Theory (8th Edition, S.
Chand & Company Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,
2008)

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STATE,

 Mahajan Vidya Dhar, Political Theory (5th

 Johari J.C, Principles of Modern Political Science

 To understand the concept of State,

 To understand the relationships between

 Explain the concept of State, Government,

 What is the relationship of State,

 The word ‘state’ in a literal sense can be used in

 According to MacIver,” The state is an association

 Dr. Garner,” State as a concept of political science and

 It is the political organisation through which

 There cannot be a state without government. The

 It acts as the political organisation that makes an

 Society liberates and limits the activities of man. It

 Talcott Parsons, a sociologist says, “The arrangement

 It is a social concept with no uncontroversial

 The state serves as a symbol of unity among the

 If the government loses its credibility, it should either be

 The idealist theory tends to ignore the distinction between

 The liberal-democratic theory treats the state as a product of

 Marxist theory treats government as an agency of the state. It

 When a society is governed by a common set of rules,

 Society may coincide with state, especially when

 State may be created, destroyed, altered or

ANation grows on a much wider base. It refers to a group of

 The research scholar in this project tried to interpret

 Thus, from this it can be interpreted that these four

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