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Reality Check The system theory in social sciences was adopted from biology. It first made its appearance in the field of social anthropology from where it was adopted in sociology, a little later in psychology and still later in political science. David Easton and Gabriel Almond played a leading role in developing the system theory in the field of political science. According to Easton, a political system is "that system of interactions in any society through which binding or authoritative allocations are made and implemented. Thus it is the making of binding or authoritative allocations which distinguishes the political system from other systems both within and outside the over-all society. Force or physical coercion forms an essential element of a political system.
Although all other systems like churches or families or business firms employ authority of one kind or the other but what distinguishes political systems from other types of social sub-system is that the latter do not have absolute coercive powers over the life and death of individuals. It is the monopoly of coercive power which characterizes the relationships between the political system and non-political systems. Since state is the most powerful political organization which regulates the social relationship of man and is the overall control institution of society. State and its components Government is the machinery through which the state functions. It is the political organization of the state. A state without government is inconceivable, for the state being an abstract concept, wills and acts through the government.
As long as there are diverse interests in society, some mechanism will be needed to bring about and maintain a workable assignment to keep the people together. If there are none who possess authority and none who obey, there is anarchy and the state is at an end. With the widening of the sphere of state activity, its agency, the government has come to occupy a very important place. All the citizens of a state are not part of a government.
It includes only those officials and departments who are elected, appointed, or employed to determine, interpret, and carry out the regulations of the state or its sub-divisions. Sovereignty is the most distinguishing characteristic of the state. Indeed, it is its essential attribute. By sovereignty is meant the ultimate authority, an authority from which there is no appeal. The authority of the state is supreme. The state is the last court of appeal in matters of law and peace.
All the individuals and groups of individuals within the state have to submit to the will of the state. It is internally supreme and externally independent. In internal matters the state enjoys supremacy and freedom from the control of external governments. To use the language of Laski, "it is by the possession of sovereignty that the state is distinguished from all other forms of human associations. " On the basis of the above four factors we may define the state as an association of people inhabiting a territory and living under a sovereign government. Thus conceived the state is not a community but an agency of the community. It is the means for the welfare of a community.
It is a peculiar institution within the community. It has "special attributes, special instruments, special powers. " It differs from all other associations in two respects: (i) Its membership is obligatory, and (ii) it has sovereignty. Compulsory membership. The state is an association whose membership does not depend upon the will of the individuals. All the inhabitants of a country are its members. All who live within the territorial boundaries of the state are subject to its law.
Every one of us must be a member of one, and no one can remain a member of more than one state. The state is a natural association and man is a political animal. One who does not live in a state is, in the words of Aristotle, either a beast or a god. Without it no man can fulfill his vocation as a man. Men can in extreme cases live without any state to give form an sanction to their social relationships, and there are some schools of thought like anarchism and communism who deny its necessity for people. But a stateless society is only a dream.
Our life is so complex today that it essentially depends on the state. Without it, it would be impossible for us to live a desirable life. Thus since the state makes it possible for us to live a life we desire its membership becomes obligatory by the very nature of functions it performs. The state has a universality which no other association in society can claim. Coercion The state differs from other associations in one more respect. It is the possession of coercive power often called sovereignty.
The state is supreme over all individuals and associations. It has power to coerce all the individuals and associations within its jurisdiction. It alone is accorded the right of compelling obedience. Other associations can deny, by way of punishing the recalcitrant members, their membership or can impose a fine but they cannot send them to imprisonment, exile or death. The state alone can exercise the sanction of force. The recalcitrant members cannot escape punishment by resigning from the state.
They can abandon any other association at will but they cannot abandon the state nor repudiate by any act of will the obligations it imposes. The powers of association are usually defined by the state. The state regulates and controls the activities of most of them. It is an overall control institution. No unlawful association can be organized nor can any association act in an unlawful manner.
The state stands for a necessary and universal system of order without which society would tumbledown. The laws of the state differ from the laws of associations in that they have got the sanction of force behind them and apply without exception to all within a geographical area. The state has thus a compulsive aspect which is lacking among other associations. Before proceeding further it may also be noted that state is never the whole of the social structure, but only a part of it. It is an association, of course with very wide authority and functions but it is only an association, not a community. As said earlier it acts as an agency of the community and cannot take the place of other agencies which perform their own functions and to perform which they alone are best fitted.
e. g. the state cannot take the place of family or church. Under no conditions is the state self-sufficing. Even the totalitarian and communistic states do not absorb the whole life of man.
The state can supervise the family or church but cannot be a substitute for them. We do many things in which we are independent of political control e. g. we love our children and friends, we give charity and extend hospitality to our guests.
The state cannot control us in these activities which are too intimate and personal to be controlled by it. Hence it cannot compass the whole of our social life. Though universal and extensive the state is still a limited agency a part of the social structure and not the whole of an association and is not a community. References 1) Michael Nelson. The Presidency and the Political System, 8 th Edition 2005, ISBN Publisher. 2. Bruce Johansen.
Native American Political Systems and the Evolution of Democracy: An Annotated Bibliography. 1997. Greenwood Press.
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