Existential Elements of the State: People, Population & Sovereignty

Theme 06 — Existential Elements of the State

People and Population

PEOPLE: It is that part of the population that has political rights and may participate in the election of governors. In this way, all who constitute the people of a State are recognized as its citizens, and legislation often governs the procedures for the acquisition, loss, and eventual recovery of citizenship. As an element of the State, the basic component is the human and social substratum. The people have a legal relationship distinct from the population: the people are the repository of sovereignty.

Population

POPULATION: The set of persons located within a specific framework of the State, whether domestic or foreign, whether residents or transients. Population is defined by the common submission of its members to the Constitution and the laws of that State.

The People of the State as a Legal Entity in Three Ways

• When the people are seen as a human group

  When the people are seen as a human group: This theory is not accepted, as it confuses the term "people" with "population." It is based on general aspects of people and population, which consist of all individuals present in a given space and time.

Any reference to the human collective within the territory of Venezuela in the Constitution sees the people as whole human beings, without distinction of order, race, creed, social status, nationality, or religion.

• The people as a collectivity of the State

  The people as a collectivity of the State: This conception emphasizes the stability and permanence of a person's status as a citizen of a State; the people are therefore conceived in terms of nationality. A Venezuelan is connected to the State not only for rights but also for duties. Even when outside the territory of the Republic, a citizen remains subject to the law because the State is the political and legal bond that unites a person to a determined condition. Legal capacity and the authority of the State pursue the person even when outside the country.

• The electorate as a whole

  The electorate as a whole: This theory considers the "people" to be only the portion of individuals who are electors. The people are the repository of sovereignty, which is the expression of the sovereign collective. The exercise of sovereignty in our country is seen as an expression of popular will: sovereignty resides in the people and is exercised directly through voting and other means of expressing will, and indirectly through public bodies.