The STATE

State – refers to a group of people,

permanently occupying a definite
territory, under the rule of a
sovereign government.
Elements of a State:
1. People
2. Territory
3. Government
4. Sovereignty
People
Inhabitants of a state
Must come from both sexes
No legal requirement
regarding size of state`s
population
 Territory
Fixed portion of the surface
of the earth;
Size does not matter;
Modes of creation of a State:
1. Discovery of terra nullius or
abandoned by prior occupant;
possession ad administration;
Outer space and open sea – res
communes (belonging to all
mankind)
2. Conquest or subjugation –
derivative mode; by means of war;
3. Accretion – natural mode;
2 kinds of accretion
1. Avulsion – segregation from an
estate and transfer to another
by current of river, creek or
lake;
2. Alluvion – gradual adjoining by
current of waters.
4. Prescription
Derivative mode;
Transfer by adverse and
uninterrupted possession of one
state of another state for a long
period of time.
5. Cession (gift, exchange or
purchase)
 Government
Institution or aggregate of
institutions;
Independent society makes and
carries out rules of action;
To enable men to live a in a social
State
Purpose of Government
 Maintenance of basic security
and public order;
Submission to Government is
preferable to anarchy (Hobbes)
Categories of Government

1. De jure government – government

of right based on the Constitution;
and
2. De facto government – unlawful;
government of fact.
 CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT
1. Constitutional monarchy - limited power
2. Constitutional republic - representatives
who are voted into power by the people
Republic – a state in which the supreme power rests in
the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by
representatives. People elect the head of the government and
representatives to make laws.

3. Democracy – all citizens are represented

but power is held by the majority.
4. Dictatorship – tyranny, absolutism
5. Monarchy – one ruler (monarch such as
king or queen)
6. Oligarchy – small group of people who
share similar interests or family relations
7. Plutocracy – composed of wealthy class
8. Theocracy- rule of religious elites
9. Anarchism – absence of government
10. Totalitarianism – state that regulates
nearly every aspect of public and private life.
11. Authoritarianism – government
characterized by an emphasis on the
authority of the state in a republic or union;
controlled by non-elected rulers who usually
permit some degree of individual freedom
Presidential Form of Government
Chief executive is constitutionally
independent from legislature (tenure,
policies and acts);
Legislative(power of the purse);executive
(power of the sword) and judicial (power to
strike the gavel);
Principle of separation of powers;
Blending of powers – sharing of two or
more departments in the performance of a
given constitutional task.
Principle of checks and balances.
Parliament Form of Government
Executive power belongs to the Prime
Minister and his cabinet;
Leaders of majority party are in the
Parliament;
Remain in office as long as they have the
confidence and support of majority;
 Presidential Form of
Government Parliamentary Form of
Government
 Executive is
 Member of executive
independent of the
legislature; are simultaneous
member of the
 President is assisted in legislature;
his administrative  Political leaders in the
duties by a cabinet
cabinet;
appointment by him;
 Pyramid structure
 Separation of powers; (prime minister or his
 Cabinets members equivalent is on top);
serve as alter-egos of  Cabinet remains only
the President; serving if it constitutes
at his pleasure and majority of the
mercy. legislature.
Unitary state – a state governed as a single
power in which the central government is
ultimately supreme and any administrative
divisions (sub-national units) exercise only
power that the central government chooses
to delegate.
Majority of states in the world have a
unitary system of government. Central
government makes all of the decisions,
laws and policies for the entire country.
• Unitary
Constitution Federal Constitution
 Division of
 Governed
powers between
constitutionally as
one SINGLE UNIT; federal and the
state
 With one governments;
constitutionally
 Both are
created
legislature; independent in
their own
 All powers of the
spheres;
government are
centralized
4. Sovereignty – supreme power of the state
to maintain and demand obedience to its will
from within its jurisdiction.
Also known as jure summi imperri the
absolute right to govern.
Dual Aspects of Sovereignty:
1. Internal sovereignty – supremacy of a
person/body of persons in the State over
individuals within its area of jurisdiction.
2. External sovereignty – absolute
independence of one State as a whole;
freedom from subjection/control by
foreign state.
Kinds of Sovereignty
1. Legal Sovereignty – possession of
unlimited power to make laws;
conferred/given/exercises by Congress.
2. Political Sovereignty – sum total of all
influences in a State which are given by
law; sovereign power of the People
(electorate);
 Theoretical Basis of the
State

Divine Right Theory –

oldest theory; rulers are
decreed/chosen by God.
 Ancients Egyptians,
Chinese and Aztecs are
believers of this theory;
Opposing the ruler is
opposing God (treason
and sin).
Social Contract Theory
Ruler and people have
distinct
responsibilities;
Humans abandoned
their natural condition
(free and ungoverned;
state of nature) to joint
society (structure,
protection and order);
Paternalistic Theory
 The State evolved from the most basic political
unit which is the family, which by natural states
grew into a clan, then developed into tribes.
Economic Theory
 The State was created to take care of
man's needs and enable him to become
self-sufficient.
Historical Basis of the State
1. Primitive State – emerged in the Orient
(Nile, Yangtze King, Ganges River and
Euphrates);presence of centralized
organization under one military supreme
ruler and absolute rule of authorities.
2. City-State – Balkan and Italian Peninsulas
(Greek City-State); having full power to
determine external relations.
3. Roman Imperial State – Roman Empire;
built because of military conquests,
annexation of colonies.
4. Feudal States – Medieval Age; feudal state
centralized organization with a king at the
top, whose powers covered territories rules
by landlords and served by vassals (slaves).
5. Modern State – built on concept of
nationalism; every state is sovereign and
independent within its own right.
6. World State – ideal international state;
differences/conflicts are settled by peaceful
means; nations are governed by international
law.
 Nation
State
 Jurist or political Racial or ethnic concept;
concept; There can be a nation
 When there is a without being a state;
state, there is at Occupies two or more
least one nation; territories;
 Can be made up of May not be dependent
one or more on control
nations;
 Presupposes a
government and
definite territory.
 Not subject to
external control.