State

(From L. statum). Basic instrument of political power. Its principle characteristics are: 1) a monopoly on violence, which is delegated to various armed organizations; 2) the levying of taxes; 3) bureaucracy, i.e., all the functionaries of the organs of the s.; 4) territoriality, that is, a geographical area in which the s. exercises its power; 5) the capacity to act in the name of all citizens it considers to be subjects. Frequently, the s. has been confused with the people or the civil society. In general, all forms of statism tend to avoid acknowledging this distinction. The s. can be regarded as the fundamental institution of the political system and political organization which constitutes the structure of society. It is a complex social formation whose fundamental structural elements are: legislative institutions, executive bodies, judicial system, control factors and armed forces. Every modern s. has a constitution and symbols of identity. It is the apparatus of social operation and management and, moreover, an association that occupies a certain territory and includes all members of a given society. The characteristic feature of the s. is its sovereignty, that is, a monopoly to represent the entire society. Today, the nation s. is tending to disappear through the process of regional and international integration, relinquishing its functions to supranational organisms. With the development of society and improvement of its structure, the sphere of the s. has gradually given way to civil society, which is taking on a number of its functions. The types of states and their relations with civil society and with other states depend on the type of civilization to which they belong. States are differentiated by their forms of government (monarchy, republic, tyranny, etc.), the structure of the institutions of political power (unitary, federal, confederated) and the political regime (presidential, parliamentary, authoritarian, totalitarian, etc.). The s. has external and internal functions. Civil society is today assuming some of the internal functions of the s., and even beginning to carry out external functions, which are shared with the s. The s., like any institution, is not a natural structure but a historical one that changes with the times and the society’s stage of development. In the present era, the national s. is steadily losing sovereignty to a supranational para-state that is subject to international financial power. Humanists condemn violence on the part of the s. and adopt a historically precise position with respect to the policies of each specific s. The political attitude of humanists with respect to the s. depends on the essential social character of its policies and the methods used to carry them out.