The state as the central institution of the political system of society. Need help studying a topic? To study the topic
Functions of social institutions:
1) reproduction of members of society(family, state, etc.);
2) socialization- transfer to individuals established in a given society of patterns of behavior and methods of activity (family, education, religion);
3) production and distribution(economic and social institutions of management and control - authorities);
4) management and control functions(implemented through a system of social norms and regulations);
Conditions for the successful functioning of social institutions:
1) a clear definition of the goal and range of actions to be performed,
2) rational division of labor and its rational organization,
3) depersonalization of actions,
4) conflict-free inclusion in the global system of institutions.
The state has all the signs and functions of social services. institutions.
Functions of the State:
1. Ensuring integrity and stability, military, economic, security;
2. Protection of the constitution and the rule of law, guarantee of rights and freedoms;
3. Providing conditions for the development of public life;
4. Regulation of social relations based on rights;
5. Coordination of interests based on compromise;
6.Control to improve management efficiency;
7. Ensuring national interests in the world community.
The largest social institution is the state. The state arises from certain social needs, with a certain target orientation; social stratification, identification of social statuses and positions are quite clearly carried out in it, and there are pronounced signs of a social institution.
The state already clearly separates the control and managed subsystems. The most important place in the structure of the state as a social institution (public-power organization of class society) belongs to the state apparatus. The state apparatus is that necessary committee which, due to the division of labor within the public form of power, the organization of class society, carries out the functions of this organization and class power.
The main function of the state is to form a social environment that would contain the prerequisites for the development of prevailing production relations and the owner class itself.
Another equally important function of the state is to suppress the resistance of the oppressed classes, establishing relations of domination and subordination. Domination is nothing more than the imposition of the wolf class on the rest of society through the use of institutional coercion. Coercion is carried out through various forms of influence, including ideological ones. Ideology in this regard appears as an instrument of the ruling classes, functioning in the state to introduce into the consciousness of the masses principles and ideals that contribute to the implementation of class domination.
The concept and characteristics of a political institution. A political institution as an ideal model of a system of political relations and as organizational structures reproduced in collective political practice in accordance with the stereotypes and matrices of the model structure. Features of the state as a political organization. The state as the central institution of the political system. Concepts of the origin, nature and social purpose of the state. Main features and types of state. Stages of development of a modern constitutional state. Internal and external functions of the state.
Forms of government and government. Forms of government: confederation, unitary state, federation. Forms of government: republic and monarchy. Presidential republic (using the example of the USA): political status, rights and responsibilities of the president, main powers of parliament. Semi-presidential republic (using the example of France). Parliamentary republic: the position of the president in the system of supreme authorities, the order of formation, party composition and powers of the government, features of the relationship between parliament and government (using the example of Germany). Absolute and constitutional monarchy.
Legal and social state: values and principles. Origins of the concept of the rule of law. Social environment, mechanism of functioning and development of the rule of law. The essence and main features of the social state. The relationship between the rule of law and civil society.
State authorities of the Russian Federation. Features of the formation of state power in Russia. Legislative power system. State Duma and Federation Council: election procedure, party composition, main powers. The Institute of Presidential Power in Russia: Traditions, Experience, Innovations. Legal status, powers and role of the president in the exercise of state power. The President and the Federal Assembly. Features of the relationship between the government and parliament. Judicial system in Russia. Federalism in Russia: problems and trends.
Topic 11. Political parties, party systems, socio-political movements
Political party: definition, types of role in the mechanism of political power. The concept of a political party. The main differences between a political party and other political institutions. Signs and types of political parties. Genesis and process of formation of modern political parties. Main trends in the evolution of parties. Functions of the party in the mechanism of political power. Methods and forms of party influence on political life.
The essence and types of party systems. The concept of “type of party system”. One-party, two-party and multi-party systems. Alternative and non-alternative party systems. Party associations, movements and blocs. The opposition and its role in political life. Party systems in Western Europe, the USA and China.
Socio-political movements. Signs of socio-political movements. Typology of socio-political movements. Relationships between socio-political movements and parties.
The formation of a multi-party system in Russia. Social base and typology of Russian political parties. General characteristics of the party system in Russia. Trends in the development of a multi-party system in modern Russia.
The central institution of the political system is the state. It concentrates the highest powers of power and has the ability to manage and purposefully regulate social relations. The term “state” itself is usually used in two meanings. In a broad sense, a state is understood as a community of people living in a certain territory, represented and organized by a supreme authority. It is identical to the country and the politically organized people. In this meaning they speak, for example, about the Russian, French, Italian state, meaning the entire society it represents.
Around the 11th century. the state was usually interpreted broadly and was not separated from society. A clear distinction between state and society was substantiated in the theories of the state by B. Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and other thinkers. In them, these concepts are separated not only substantively and historically, since it is argued that individuals who initially existed in a free and unorganized state, as a result of economic and other interactions, first formed a society, and then, to protect their security and natural rights, by contract they created a special body - state. In modern science, the state in the narrow sense is understood as an organization, a system of institutions that have supreme power in a certain territory.
The state arose when the reproduction of man himself and the material foundations of his life outgrew the framework of a self-contained community. The origin of the state is not a one-time act, but a long process of disintegration of primitive self-government.
There are various theories of the origin, development and essence of the state. These are: a) theocratic, which interprets the state as a creation of God; b) patriarchal, which removes the state from the family, clan, tribe and interprets its power as tutelary, paternal; c) contractual, which interprets the state as the result of a social contract between citizens and rulers; d) violence, conquest, which explains the emergence of the state by the conquest of some groups and tribes by others; d) idealistic,
For example, for Hegel, the state is a spiritual idea that manifests itself in the form of human will and freedom; f) socio-economic - the emergence during the development of production of private property, classes and exploitation (Marxism).
The state is a product of the internal evolution of society, which objectively needs organizational design. In different eras, in different conditions, it acts as an organization for managing society, as a mechanism of power. The state does not have an eternal nature; it did not exist in primitive society. Thus, the state is a historically established organization of political power and management of social processes in society, the main institution of the political system.
The state is a political institution that organizes the joint life of the population in a certain territory and ensures proper social order there, maintaining the appropriate norms and rules of human coexistence.
In general, the state was formed as an institution for organizing common life. It is for these purposes that it forms and supports the norms and rules of social life, controls their implementation by the authorities and subjects. In this sense, the state is a unique value, without whose power-organizing role it is impossible to preserve human coexistence in the modern world.
As a specific institution of political power, the state has a number of characteristics that allow it to be distinguished from other political institutions and organizations.
1. The presence of special public power, which, embodied in state bodies, acts as state power. It is carried out by a special layer of people performing the functions of management and coercion, constituting the state apparatus, which is endowed with state powers, i.e. the ability to issue binding acts and resort to government influence when necessary.
2. Territorial organization of the population. State power is exercised within a certain territory and extends to all people living on it.
3. State sovereignty, i.e. independence of state power from any other power within the country and outside. Sovereignty gives the state the right to independently and freely decide its affairs, distinguishes it, along with other characteristics, from other organizations of society (for example, from parties, movements, etc.).
4. The state is the only organization that is engaged in lawmaking, i.e. issues laws and other legal acts binding on the entire population. The state cannot exist without law, since the latter legally formalizes state power and thereby makes it legitimate.
5. A state organization necessarily involves collecting taxes from the population.
The state represents the entire society as a whole; it and on its behalf make all government decisions without exception that concern all members of society and are binding on everyone. It is the bearer of power, the jurisdiction of which extends to all members of society and the entire territory of the country. The coercive nature of the state's power, its monopoly on the use of violence, fundamentally distinguishes it from other political institutions and makes it the basis of the political system.
It is impossible to imagine a state without power, domination and subordination. It differs from other forms of human organization in that it has military force and a judicial apparatus. Although violence is not the only means of the state, it is a specific means for it. However, the forms, means, and conditions for his use of violence or threats of violence are strictly defined and regulated by law. That is why they talk about legitimacy or legalized violence on the part of the state.
In modern society, enormous power is concentrated in the hands of the state. Firstly, it has a monopoly on the adoption of generally binding rules of behavior and the ability to ensure their application through the use of the repressive apparatus (army and police). Secondly, its strength is due to its intervention in the economic life of society. Thirdly, in a certain way it is also the guardian of society, since it performs the functions of social protection. Fourthly, senior government officials independently make decisions on all more or less important issues of social development.
The mechanism of a modern state is distinguished by a high degree of complexity and the diversity of its constituent parts, blocks, and subsystems. The structure of the state mechanism includes government bodies, government agencies and enterprises, government employees, organizational and financial means, as well as coercive force. All this is necessary to ensure the functioning of the state apparatus.
The social purpose of the state, the nature and content of its activities are expressed in functions that are associated with the main areas of activity.
The classification of functions is based on the spheres of activity of the state, i.e. those areas of social relations that it affects. Depending on this, the functions of the state can be divided into internal and external.
Internal functions are the main directions of state activity within a given country, characterizing the internal policy of the state. These include protective and regulatory functions.
The implementation of protective functions presupposes the activities of the state to ensure and protect all social relations established and regulated by law.
Regulatory functions characterize the role of the state in organizing social production, developing the country's economy, and creating the necessary conditions for the formation of personality. Regulatory functions include economic, social functions, as well as taxation and tax collection, environmental, cultural, etc.
External functions are manifested in the foreign policy activities of the state, in its relations with other countries.
The external and internal functions of the state are closely interconnected and interdependent.
Depending on the duration of action, the functions of the state are classified into permanent (carried out at all stages of the development of the state) and temporary (they cease to operate with the solution of a certain task, usually of an emergency nature); depending on the meaning - into basic and non-basic.
The most important and initial characteristic of a democratic state
This is democracy. This means that the real source of state power and its original social subject is the people and only the people.
A democratic state is a state in which strict observance and guaranteed implementation of personal, political and other rights and freedoms of man and citizen are ensured, broad participation of every member and all social strata of society in the management of state and public affairs in order to achieve public harmony, socio-political stability and the common good. The political regime of a democratic state will be discussed specifically in one of the chapters of the textbook.
A rule-of-law state is a state that, in all its organization, functioning and activities, is based on subordination to the law, on strict observance of its norms that enshrine universal human rights and freedoms. It is based on the desire to protect a person from state terror, violence against conscience, petty tutelage on the part of authorities, to guarantee individual freedom and fundamental individual rights. It is a state limited in its actions by the law that protects the freedom, security and dignity of the individual and subordinates power to the will of the sovereign people. The relationship between the individual and the government will be determined by the constitution, which asserts the priority of human rights, which cannot be violated by the laws of the state and its actions. In order for the people to control the state, there is a separation of powers: legislative, executive and judicial. An independent court is called upon to protect the primacy of law, which is universal and applies equally to all citizens, state and public institutions. The concept of the rule of law in its fundamental terms developed in the 11th - 19th centuries. in the works of Locke, Montesquieu, Kant, Jefferson and other theorists. Various theories of the rule of law are based on the concept of civil society.
The adequate social basis of the rule of law is civil society, which is a society of developed social relations, high general and political-legal culture, socio-political activity of its members, separated and independent from the state and building its relations with it on the basis of recognition of the priority of society and the need to serve him state. Recognition of priority by civil society is a source of legitimacy of state power and the legal system, which, in turn, serves as the most important guarantee of respect for law and order in society. The doctrine of the rule of law, at the same time, proceeds from the inadmissibility of opposing them to each other, from the recognition of the need to achieve their harmonious
Interactions on a legal basis.
Civil society has a complex structure, including economic, family, ethnic, religious and legal relations, morality, as well as political relations not mediated by the state between individuals as the primary subjects of power, parties, interest groups, etc.
In civil society, in contrast to state structures, it is not vertical, but horizontal connections that predominate - relations of competition and solidarity between legally free and equal partners.
Summarizing the experience of the emergence and development of various legal states, we can highlight their following common features:
Presence of civil society;
Limiting the scope of state activity to the protection of individual rights and freedoms, public order, and the creation of favorable legal conditions for economic activity;
Worldview individualism, everyone’s responsibility for their own well-being;
Legal equality of all citizens, priority of human rights over state laws;
Universality of law, its extension to all citizens, all organizations and institutions, including government bodies;
Sovereignty of the people, constitutional and legal regulation of state sovereignty. This means that it is the people who are the ultimate source of power, while state sovereignty is representative in nature;
Separation of the legislative, executive and judicial powers of the state, which does not exclude the unity of their actions based on the procedures provided for by the constitution, as well as a certain supremacy of the legislative power;
Priority in state regulation of the method of prohibition over the method of permission. This means that in a rule-of-law state the following principle applies to citizens: “Everything that is not prohibited by law is permitted.” The method of permission is applied here only in relation to the state itself, which is obliged to act within the limits of what is permitted - formally recorded powers;
The rights of other people as the only limiter on individual freedom. The rule of law does not create absolute personal freedom. The freedom of everyone ends where the freedom of others is violated.
The establishment of the rule of law was an important stage in expanding the freedom of the individual and society. Its creators believed that providing everyone with negative liberty (freedom from restrictions) and encouraging competition would benefit everyone, make private property available to everyone, maximize individual responsibility and initiative, and lead ultimately to the welfare of all. However, this did not happen. Individual freedom, equality and non-interference of the state in the affairs of civil society proclaimed in legal states did not prevent the monopolization of the economy and its periodic crises, harsh exploitation, worsening inequality and class struggle. Deep actual inequality devalued the equality of citizens and turned the use of constitutional rights into a privilege for the propertied classes.
A social state is a state that strives to provide each citizen with decent living conditions, social security, participation in production management, and ideally approximately equal life chances, opportunities for personal self-realization in society.
The activities of such a state are aimed at the common good and the establishment of social justice in society. It smooths out property and other social inequality, helps the weak and disadvantaged, takes care of providing everyone with work or another source of livelihood, maintaining peace in society, and creating a living environment favorable to humans.
The activities of a modern welfare state are multifaceted. This is the redistribution of national income in favor of less affluent segments of the population, employment and security policy, employee rights in the enterprise, social insurance, support for family and motherhood, care for the unemployed, the elderly, youth, development of accessible to all
Education, healthcare, culture, etc.
If the essence of the state as a political institution is uniform, then the forms of the state are diverse. This diversity has fully manifested itself in historical development and takes place in the modern era, when the number of states on our planet has exceeded 200.
States are traditionally characterized through forms of government and forms of territorial (state) structure. They embody the organization of supreme power, the structure and order of relationships between the highest state bodies, officials and citizens. The elements of the form of the state are:
Form of government, which usually refers to the organization of the highest authorities in a particular state;
A form of government that reflects the territorial structure of the state, i.e. how the territory of a given state is structured, what parts it consists of and what their legal status is;
A political regime, which is a system of methods, means and means of exercising state power and characterized by the degree of political freedom in society, the state of the legal status of the individual.
Forms of government are divided according to the method of organizing power and its formal source into monarchies and republics.
In a monarchy, supreme power is fully or partially concentrated in the hands of the sole head of state - the monarch (king, czar, shah, etc.). This supreme power is usually hereditary. At the same time, a distinction is made between an absolute monarchy, in which there are no representative institutions of the people and the power of the monarch is not limited in any way (for example, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, etc.). A limited monarchy is when, along with the head of state (monarch), there is another supreme authority (for example, Parliament). The modern form of limited monarchy is a parliamentary monarchy. The role of the monarch in it is nominal; the leading role in governing the state is played by the government formed by parliament. The most typical example of a parliamentary monarchy is modern Great Britain, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Norway, etc.
A republic where all the highest authorities are elected or formed for a certain period of time. Depending on who forms the government, to whom it is accountable and controlled, republics are divided into presidential, parliamentary and mixed.
In a parliamentary republic, the head of state is an elected official. The role of the president in forming the government, as well as in governing the country, is purely nominal. The government, headed by the Prime Minister, is formed by parliament, to which it is politically responsible. Currently, parliamentary republics exist in countries such as Italy, Germany, Austria, India and others.
A presidential republic is characterized by the fact that the head of state is the president, who has the powers of head of state and head of government. The government in such a republic is appointed by the president himself and is not responsible to parliament. Such republics are the USA, the Russian Federation and others.
In some countries there is a mixed form of government, i.e. combining the features of a presidential republic, where the head of state is elected by the population, he appoints the government; and a parliamentary republic, where the government is responsible to parliament, early dissolution of parliament by the president is possible. Such countries with a mixed form of republican government include, for example, France, Finland and others.
The form of the state is the external manifestation of the organization of territorial and class-political power, which includes three elements: territorial structure, form of government and political regime. The territorial structure of the state reflects the connection between central and local government bodies, the relationship of individual parts of the state among themselves and with the state as a whole. On this basis, two main forms are distinguished - a unitary and federal state, as well as a transitional form - a confederation.
A unitary state is a simple, unified state that does not include other state entities with the rights of its members. In such states there is a unified system of supreme bodies and a unified system of legislation. Most states in the world (more than 85%) are unitary. These include states such as Spain, China, Italy and others.
A federal state is a complex, union state, parts of which are state entities and have a certain political independence and other signs of statehood. Unlike a unitary state, a federation has two systems of supreme authorities - federal bodies and the corresponding authorities of members (subjects) of the federation. Along with federal legislation, there is also legislation of the constituent entities of the federation. 24 states are federal in nature. Among them are the largest countries by territory - the USA, Russia, Canada, India, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, as well as Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria, Switzerland, UAE, Belgium, etc. Constituting only 3% of the total number of countries on our planet, federal states cover a total of approximately a third of the population and half of the globe's territory.
A confederation is a temporary union of states formed to achieve political, military, economic and other goals. This is a less durable association of states compared to a federation and has existed for a relatively short time. Confederations either disintegrate or transform into federal states. The Confederation does not have sovereignty, because there is no common territory for the united subjects, a unified system of legislation, and no common citizenship. Confederations existed in the USA (1776 - 1787), Switzerland (until 1848), Germany (1815 -1867) and some other countries. Within the framework of the confederation, union bodies can be created, but only on those problems for the sake of which they united and only of a coordinating nature. Subjects of the confederation have the right to freely secede from the union.
Thus, the union of several states into a confederation (as opposed to a federation) does not lead to the formation of a new state.
There is also a classification of states by type, carried out mainly from the perspective of two approaches: formational and civilizational. Within the first, the main criterion is socio-economic characteristics (socio-economic formation). In accordance with this, the following types of state are distinguished: slave, feudal, bourgeois, socialist. Within the second approach, the main criteria are cultural, religious, national, psychological and other characteristics. Depending on them, the following civilizations are distinguished: Egyptian, Chinese, Western, Byzantine
The system is the state. Moreover, this is told in a categorical tone, and many do not think about why everything is exactly like this. So let's look at why the state is considered the main institution of the political system.
General information
The state is a historical phenomenon. didn't have it. At that time there was no such situation. This state of affairs was formed due to the fact that there was no need for it. All emerging contradictions were resolved, as a rule, by authority, public opinion and brute force. But, as society developed, it was necessary to create a certain mechanism that could adequately and unambiguously resolve disputes and conduct common affairs. Implementing this functionality without the presence of appropriate controls was impossible. It was at this stage that it was established that the main institution of the political system is the state. Of course, now it looks clear, but then this understanding was just forming. How did this process take place?
Developing an understanding of the situation
Now they confidently say that the main institution is the state. But how did humanity come to this conclusion? Initially, structure processes occurred. They accelerated significantly when new, previously non-existent social groups (later called layers and classes) emerged. Each of them had its own specific needs and interests. Private property was allocated. There was a need to create an effective mechanism for relationships between different social groups, and also to formulate principles for the protection and preservation of private and collective property among their owners. These circumstances (as well as a number of others) led to the emergence of such a regulatory and protective structure of society.
That is why the state is the main institution of the political system that unites society. There are a number of aspects and nuances that must be taken into account when making such statements. What are they?
Let's understand the nuances
Why is the status of the main institution in the political system assigned to the state, and not to the church, political party or public organizations? After all, religions existed back in the days of the primitive system. This can be explained by a number of reasons.
The very first is that society delegates basic powers and functions to a certain state. Thus, he has the main levers (political, economic, military) of influence on society. The state is the owner of all power in a certain territory. He also has the exclusive right to issue laws and other regulations, which are mandatory for the entire population. In addition, only the state has the right to use force. Do you see how many possibilities it has? Therefore, it is believed that the main institution of the political system is the state. That is, this is not the subjective opinion of an individual, but the conclusion of many people, which is based on real facts. After all, for example, clergy can persuade individual people to do something, but to act with such success within the framework of the entire state is beyond their capabilities. No, of course, we can also remember the city-state of the Vatican, but it exists solely because Italy allowed it.
Functions
What does the state do? What role does it play in modern society? For this purpose, there is a division into types of government functions:
- Internal. These include economic, social, cultural, educational and legal functions. It should be noted that in various literature, in addition to those listed, you can find a number of others. As an example, we can cite the protection of the constitutional order, environmental function, and so on.
- External. This includes protecting society from external enemies and building civilized relations with other states.
Functions are performed through the organ system. It is also called. For greater specialization and efficiency of activity, a system of division of power operates. The most popular is the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Although some people talk about another component - the media. Legally this is not true. One can speak about their power functions only in a figurative sense. They are not directly part of the power structure. They cannot make decisions, laws and regulations that will be binding on all citizens. But the media can have a strong psychological and moral impact on society and people's consciousness.
Process of evolution
We know that the main institution of the political system is the state. But it did not appear in its modern form immediately, but developed gradually. But what interests us is not only and not so much the past as the future. You can come across fabrications that over time the state will “wither away” as unnecessary. Despite the fact that such forecasts are made from century to century, humanity has not yet reached this point. Attempts to organize something similar (Marxism and the USSR) were unsuccessful. On the contrary, now we can only say that society is becoming increasingly differentiated (stratified), the number of tasks to which the state is involved is growing, and so on. Various problems also arise that require solutions. Therefore, even now the main institution of the political system is the state.
Conclusion
It should be noted that there is no unanimous opinion about the role of the state in the process of social development. It is also difficult to reach a single point of view about exactly when it first became a major political institution. As an argument, various researchers cite a wide variety of information, ranging from simple and small states of antiquity to the situation already formed in the Middle Ages - the division into countries.
The state as the central institution of the political system (slide).
The structure of the political system is made up of a number of elements, among which the most important place is occupied by the so-called political institutions - organizations, institutions, associations of citizens that perform special functions in the political life of society. Political institutions include the state, political parties, socio-political organizations, movements, etc. What is a state? What is the meaning of this concept, widely used by many sciences, in political science? What are modern states like? What are the functions of political parties and interest groups in political life? These and other issues are discussed in this module, which is devoted to the main institutions of the political system of society.
In the modern world, in which there are already more than 200 states, there are also tiny (dwarf) states (such as the Principality of Monaco with an area of 1.95 km2 and a population of less than 32 thousand people, or the Vatican, located in the capital of Italy, with an area of 0.44 km2 and a population of about a thousand people) , and huge in terms of territory and number of inhabitants of the country(as, for example, Russia is the largest state in terms of territory with an area of 17,075.4 thousand km2 and the seventh in the world in terms of population - 144.2 million people, or China, with the largest number of inhabitants - over 1 billion 286.97 million. people, and the third in the world in terms of territory - 9.6 million km 2). But regardless of the size and number of inhabitants, location and history, they all have a number of properties that distinguish them from other public entities and organizations:
· versatility– the ability to manage a socially heterogeneous society with the help of special bodies;
· sovereignty– supremacy, completeness and independence of political power;
· monopoly on the publication of laws and regulations binding on the entire population;
· tax collection;
· use of violence.
The state is the central element of the political system of society. If the functions of exercising political power in society can be performed by various organizations, parties, public associations, unions, which together constitute the political system of society, then only the state has the highest power, the decisions of which are binding on all citizens, organizations and institutions. It acts as the official representative of the entire society, coordinating and ordering its life with the help of power resources entering the political system.
The term “state” is relatively new. The fact is that until the 16th century. the state and civil society were not separated from each other; concepts such as principality, kingdom, republic etc. Special term "stato"(from lat. status- status, position) to designate the state as a special form of political organization of society was introduced into scientific circulation by an Italian scientist and statesman Niccolo Machiavelli, was the first to note the difference between the governance of small city-states (polises) through the direct participation of all its citizens and large national communities, where governance is carried out by the political elite with the help of state power.
The emergence of statehood at different stages of the development of political thought was associated with the influence of various factors. Thus, the origin of the state was explained by divine will ( theological theory ), historical development - the unification of clans and tribes ( patriarchal theory ), rational agreement of people ( contract theory ), military-political factors - as an apparatus for managing captured peoples and territories ( capture theory ), economic factors - the political dominance of the economically dominant class ( economic, Marxist-Leninist concept ), psychological factors - people’s need for submission ( psychological, psychoanalytic concepts ) etc.
The important elements of the state are:
Territory
2) population– community of people permanently residing on the territory of a given state and subject to its authority. The population is connected with the state by the fact of permanent residence on its territory, as well as the special nature of its political and legal affiliation - the fact citizenship (citizenship is a permanent connection between a person and the state, manifested in their mutual rights and responsibilities). According to national composition they distinguish mononational states (example: Japan), and multinational states (example Russia).
3) public power, those. a special system of bodies and institutions that implements the functions of state power ( state apparatus).
1) Legislative authorities whose main function is the development and adoption of laws. The highest body of legislative power is called parliament.
2) Executive authorities, performing executive and administrative functions in the state. The highest executive body is called government.
3) Judicial authorities carrying out the functions of justice in the state.
4) Control and supervision bodies - bodies facilitating the execution of judicial power(prosecutor's office, bar, etc.), as well as various control and audit departments and inspections.
5) The head of state is a constitutional body or highest official (monarch or president) representing the state within the country and in the international arena.
Each state can also have its own state symbols (flag, coat of arms, anthem, Sometimes - motto), its own monetary unit, state language (legally established language of official communication, mandatory for use in office work, legal proceedings, education, state media), capital. Thus, STATE can be defined as a universal, sovereign political form of organization of society, the central institution of the political system, created to organize and manage the life of the population in a certain territory with the help of public authority, which is binding.
Functions of the state:
1. Internal:
· Legal (protection of the constitutional order);
· Socio-economic (regulation of the economy, implementation of social programs, social protection of the population)
· Environmental (environmental protection, consolidation of the legal regime for environmental management)
· Cultural and educational (state support and development of culture, education, sports)
2. External:
· State defense
· Cooperation with other states
· Maintaining world order
So, all states have approximately the same set of properties, characteristics and functions. In any state there are parliaments, governments, courts, army, police, etc. However, upon closer examination of the structure of state power, national-territorial organization, the relationship between religion and secular power, one can notice significant differences in the structure of modern states. Thus, the head of government in Germany is the chancellor, appointed by parliament, and in the USA - the president, elected by the people; the head of state in Japan is the emperor, in Sweden - the king, in France - the president, in Australia and Canada - the Queen of Great Britain, represented by governors general, and in Cuba or Libya there is no president, no monarch, or even the post of head of state. The Sultan of Brunei rules the state alone, while the Queen's power in Great Britain is limited almost entirely by an independent parliament, government and courts. The territory of Germany consists of states, the USA and Mexico - of states, Russia - of republics, territories, regions and autonomous districts, and the territories of China, Spain, and Ukraine include autonomous entities. Even the names of states (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federal Republic of Germany, Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Islamic Republic of Iran, etc.) indicate the existence of peculiarities inherent in each specific state. At the same time, of course, some states have quite similar characteristics, which makes it possible to unite them into certain groups according to the methods of forming the highest bodies of power (forms government) and territorial organization (forms state structure).
