Political Philosophy: The Nature and Necessity of the State

The Nature and Characteristics of the State

A society possesses formal institutions of government, political organizations, and independent legal administration, which constitutes a state. The state is a developed form of society organized politically as a civil society. Many people confuse the state with other terms like "nation" or "people," but the term designates a particular social institution. The state can be defined as a social institution in its modern version with the following characteristics:

• Universal jurisdiction in its own territory: This means the state has the authority to govern and ensure laws are fulfilled within its territorial limits. The laws enacted apply to the whole society under that state's effect.
• Source of law: The state emanates the system of law.
• Monopoly of coercive power and violence: When individuals are not law-abiding, the state has the power to punish those offenders and is entitled to do so.
• Sovereign legislature: It does not agree with, nor is it coerced by, any other instance, nor is it committed to any superior instance.
• Public interest: Unlike other institutions, the state can take charge of everything that has a public interest. States vary based on the ideological government occupying the state at the moment. Left-wing and fascist movements tend to expand the state, while liberal right-wing movements aim to diminish it.

Arguments Against the Necessity of the State

The position advocated by the anarchist political movement (anarchism) suggests that the state is not necessary and is undesirable. Historically, it has been an instrument of oppression that favored only the powerful and ambitious, generating hatred, slavery, wars, and other ills of human societies. For anarchists, social life does not require a central and oppressive power, as they believe man is good by nature or would be good within a just society.

The Necessity of the State for Social Stability

Conversely, some argue the state is crucial because it monopolizes strength, which limits and controls outbreaks of violence. This perspective suggests the state is the only entity capable of preventing conflict and managing tensions that threaten social stability. It is also a privileged institution that promotes the common good.

Rousseau’s Social Contract Theory

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believes our society is provided with an unfair inequality that converts man into a pervert. The powerful and rich take what little is left to the weak and poor in exchange for the inconvenience they will suffer by governing them. Equality is inseparable from freedom; therefore, a society based on inequality and slavery is illegitimate. A transformation of existing social pacts into an egalitarian one is necessary for societies.

The difference between the pacts of Rousseau and Hobbes is that Rousseau does not introduce a sovereign different from the community itself. The people are the sovereign, and the general will is expressed through law. Although both theories involve transferring rights to the state or the community, under Rousseau's conditions, the general will is infallible and transforms natural rights into civil rights.