Define State and discuss its elements?

Answer 1

A state is an organised political community living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state.

1. Population

The State is a human institution. Hence population is it's first and foremost element. No state can be imagined without the people, as there must be some to rule and others to be ruled. The people constitute its "personal basis".

2. Territory

People cannot constitute a state, unless they inhabit in a definite territory When they reside permanently in a fixed place, they develop a community of interests and a sense of unity. It becomes easy to organise them into a political unit and control them. So the state requires a fixed territory, with clearly demarcated boundaries over which it exercises undisputed authority. Territory is its "material basis". The territory of a state comprises:

3. Government

Government is the important- indeed, indispensable machinery by mean of which the state maintains its existence, carries on its functions and realise its policies and objectives. A community of persons does not form a state unless it is organised by an established government.

4. Sovereignty

The fourth essential element of the state is sovereignty. It is that important element which distinguishes the state from all other associations. The word 'Sovereignty' denotes supreme and final legal authority and beyond which no further legal power exists

5. International Recogntion

Recognition of people of a state by the world is very important as it creates a status among others. It helps to improve trade and community relations.