State
Topic: State, Government and Governance: Organs, Levels and the Citizen · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The State, the Government, and You"
Meaning
A state is a political organisation with authority over a defined territory and the people who live there permanently. It has four elements: population, territory, government and sovereignty. Sovereignty means supreme power free from outside control. The population must be permanent, so tourists do not count. The territory needs clear boundaries agreed with neighbours. The Montevideo Convention (1933) adds one more test: the capacity to deal with other states. The state lasts while governments change.
Example
Article 1 of the Constitution calls India "a Union of States". Article 12 gives "the State" a wide meaning for fundamental rights.
Don't confuse with
- Government: the government changes after elections. The state is permanent.
- "State" as a unit such as Kerala: in India, the same word also means a member unit of the Union. Kerala is not a sovereign state in the political-science sense.
- Nation: a nation is a people bound by a shared identity. A state is a political unit with sovereignty.