What is a state? Brief definition, signs and concept. State

main institute political system modern society and the most important form of its organization. G.'s main purpose is to organize political power and management of society.

Any government expresses and protects the interests of the entire society and the interests of the ruling circles. G. has signs and features that distinguish it both from the pre-state (primitive communal) organization of society and from the non-state (party, public, etc.) organizations that exist alongside it.

Most character traits G.: a) the presence of an apparatus of power and control separated from society and often standing above it. It consists of a special layer of people whose main occupation is the performance of power and management functions. They do not directly produce either material or spiritual benefits, but only manage. These people occupy their positions by election, appointment, inheritance or replacement. The main components of this apparatus are government bodies, administrative bodies, courts, prosecutors, etc. The lowest level of the apparatus is the state body; b) the presence, along with the apparatus of power and control, of a coercive apparatus. It consists of special detachments of armed people - army, police, intelligence, counterintelligence, as well as in the form of all kinds of compulsory institutions (prisons, camps, etc.). The administrative apparatus, together with special detachments of armed people, is called public power, giving it paramount importance; c) division of the population into territorial units. In contrast to the tribal system, where social power extended to people based on consanguinity, depending on their belonging to one or another clan. phratries, tribes or unions of tribes, under a state system, power extends to them depending on the territory of their residence. Residents living on the territory of Georgia, regardless of production ties, are either citizens (in a republic), or subjects (in a monarchy), or stateless persons or foreigners subject to the jurisdiction of Germany, subject to its laws; d) the entire territory of Georgia is divided into a number of administrative-territorial units. IN different countries they are called differently: districts, provinces, regions, territories, districts, counties, districts, etc. But their purpose and functions are the same - the organization of state power and administration in the territory they occupy; d) sovereignty. It means, firstly, the supremacy of state power within the country. And secondly, its independence is international arena. Sovereignty is the political and legal expression of the sovereignty of a state. It also expresses the ability of a state, independently of other states, to form and implement its own domestic and foreign policy. Governments with formal or limited sovereignty have always existed and still exist in the world. Sovereignty is considered formal when it is legally and politically proclaimed. but in fact, due to the spread of the influence of other governments dictating their will, it is not carried out. Partial limitation of sovereignty can be forced or voluntary. A forced limitation of sovereignty may take place, for example, in relation to a country defeated in a war by the victorious states. Voluntary limitation of sovereignty is allowed by the State itself by mutual agreement with other States, for example, for the sake of achieving certain goals common to them. Voluntary restrictions on sovereignty are also observed when states unite into a federation and transfer part of their sovereign rights to the federation; e) loans and taxes. Initially, they were needed only to maintain the army, police and other coercive bodies, as well as the state apparatus. Later they began to be used for various programs carried out by G.: educational, medical, cultural, educational and others; g) each city is distinguished by its symbols and attributes (anthem, flag, etc.).

History of G. and the theory of its origin. G. is a social phenomenon limited by a certain historical framework. It arises as a result of the replacement of consanguineous ties with exchange ones. Tribal relations turn into social relations, and primitive society into civilization.

According to historical types, state legal systems are divided into primary and developed. The first type includes states that arose as a result of the decomposition of the primitive communal system: despotism that developed in ancient times in the East (Egypt); slaveholding cities of the Mediterranean (Roman Empire, ancient Greek city-states - Athens, Sparta); feudal state formations (Asia, Europe, including Kievan Rus). They are being replaced by developed types of state-legal systems - capitalism with its characteristic forms of social organization. Marxist-Leninist theory of the 20th century. adds another historical type here - “socialist G.”

In the first civilized societies known to history - Egypt, Ancient Babylon - cities existed already by the 3rd century. BC. Slavery did not play a significant role in them. although the development of slavery (for example, in Egypt) was facilitated by numerous wars. As a rule, the priestly and military classes enjoyed a privileged position in early state formations. Land was largely viewed as state property.

In the social system of many early cities (in particular, the cities of Ancient Babylon), remnants of the tribal organization remained for a long time, significantly limiting the power of the ruler: the council of elders and the people's assembly elected the head of the city, controlled its activities, carried out justice and administered public property . K. Marx and F. Engels called this method of organizing agriculture in a virtually classless society the “Asian mode of production,” considering it as one of the options for the emergence of agriculture.

The process of the formation of Georgia among many peoples was closely connected with the policy of conquest and the objective need for the urgent creation of a state apparatus to govern the conquered peoples ( Ancient China, Early Germanic G.).

The formation of a developed slave system is identified primarily with the history of Ancient Greece (10th century BC - 3rd century AD) and Rome (from the 8th century BC). The era of classical Greece falls on the VI - IV centuries. BC, and Roman Greece reached its greatest prosperity during the period of the Empire (1st century BC - 1st century AD).

The medieval history of Central Europe actually begins in the 7th-8th centuries. AD, since it was mainly during this period that the formation of centralized feudal states (France, Italy, German kingdoms, etc.) took place here. The formation of the first state formation among the East Slavic peoples (Kievan Rus) is traditionally associated with the names of the Varangian king Rurik (IX century) and his successor Prince Oleg. In the 12th century. a Russian centralized city was formed.

In the era of modern times, which began with the English bourgeois revolution of 1640-1653, the transformation of feudal states into bourgeois, capitalist states takes place. In Europe, this process ended in the 20th century. In 1917, the first socialist city arose on the site of the Russian Empire. By the end of the 70s. the number of such G. reached 15. After the democratic reforms of the late 80s - early 90s. Only 4 socialist countries remain (China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba).

In the theory of law and law, there are many different concepts of the origin of law. The authors of natural law theory (G. Hobbes, P. Holbach, D. Diderot, J.-J. Rousseau) believed that law is preceded by the natural state of man, and that law itself it is the result of a legal act, a kind of “social contract” that put an end to the “war of all against all.” G. in their interpretation is a product of the will of the people, an invention of the human mind.

The organic theory of the emergence of humanity (Plato, Aristotle) ​​proceeds from the fact that society and humanity are a single whole, a social organism that acts by analogy with the human one. Therefore, the isolated existence of a person outside of G. is impossible. According to one of the followers of this theory, Spencer, G. appears simultaneously with its constituent parts - people and will exist as long as human society exists. State power in this case is interpreted as the dominance of the whole over its component parts, its goal is to ensure the well-being of the entire people.

The class approach to the definition of democracy was introduced by K. Marx, F. Engels, and V. Lenin. G., according to their definition, is the result of the struggle of classes that arise in the course of the social division of labor, the formation of a family and private property, and the disintegration of consanguineous ties. G. Engels, for example, considered Athens in Ancient Greece to be the “purest,” classical form of origin, where it arose “directly from class contradictions.” The classics of Marxism attached primary importance to the violent side of state power - class dictatorship, the change of which means a change in property relations and, consequently, the socio-economic formation. The main function of government is to consolidate and protect the economic and political conditions of existence of a certain class. Hence the interpretation of government as a machine for maintaining the dominance of one class over another.

Marxist theory identifies four main types of government, depending on the forms of ownership dominant in them: slaveholding, feudal, bourgeois (capitalist), and socialist. In addition, Marx and Engels consider the laws of the so-called “Asian mode of production,” which, by their characteristics, do not correspond to the definition of class society.

A slave-owning socio-economic formation, in accordance with the theory of Marxism, is characterized by the presence of two main classes of society - powerless slaves and slave owners, who own all the means of production, including the slaves themselves.

Feudal society is characterized by the coexistence of the ruling class of feudal lords, in whose hands is the main means of production - land, and the class of peasantry, personally dependent on their lords (feudal lords).

The main classes of capitalist society are the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The workers (the proletariat) are personally free, but they are deprived of ownership of the means of production and are forced to sell their labor power to the capitalists. Lenin supplemented Marx's theory of the capitalist mode of production with the doctrine of imperialism as the highest and final stage of capitalism. Imperialism, in accordance with Lenin's theory, through the concentration and monopolization of production and capital, provides favorable economic conditions for the socialization of the means of production and the transition to the construction of socialism.

Socialist society, in accordance with the theory of Marxism-Leninism, is the first stage in the formation of the communist formation, a kind of transitional period, the goal of which is the destruction of classes. Unlike all previous stages of the development of class society, it excludes the exploitation of man by man, since the means of production in it “belong to the working people,” i.e. are in public ownership and therefore serve to meet the needs of all members of society in accordance with the principle “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.”

Emphasizing the role of classes in the emergence of humanity, Marx and Engels left, as it were, “outside the framework of theory” the “Asian mode of production” they themselves described, which, in essence, represents an alternative to the class method of formation of humanity. In addition, in some In early G., the criterion of attitude towards property (the means of production) did not play a significant role in the process of social differentiation. Thus, in Ancient India, society was divided not into classes, but into castes, which determined a person’s position on the social ladder, regardless of the degree of his wealth.

Class theory is not applicable to many modern post-industrial societies, in which there are no classes in the Marxist sense, but there is a complex social structure: the social status of a person in them is determined not so much by his relationship to the means of production as by his place in the system of production and distribution.

Lenin's doctrine of imperialism - eve socialist revolution and socialism as the first stage of the communist formation also did not stand the test of time. Firstly, the attempt to skip over the natural stages ended in failure historical development and transform “the weak link in the chain of imperialism” into a “welfare society.” Secondly, the entire period of socialism, according to Lenin’s ideas, should be a period of the dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e. a period of severe class struggle and terror, which in itself is absurd from the point of view of the “common good.” Thirdly, socialism as a form of organization of social relations, of course, could show a certain viability if it arose as a result of an evolutionary, rather than an aggressive-revolutionary path of development of social relations.

Finally, as history shows, a civilized industrial society is able to give birth to new evolutionary forms of socialism, which will differ significantly from the socialism we know. As Russian scientist V.A. rightly notes. Chetvernin, “as a post-industrial society forms, organized violence increasingly recedes into the background, and the general social activity of the state comes to the fore: social contradictions lose their severity, the state itself establishes a framework for the civilized resolution of conflicts between social groups, acting not only as a guarantor of the rights of the strong, but also as a defender of the interests of the weak.”

To a certain extent, the positions of Marxism were reflected in the concept that links the emergence of private property, classes, and government with the manifestation of internal and external violence of one part of society over another. This concept is called the theory of violence. Its creators (E. Dühring, L. Gumplowicz, K. Kautsky) argued that government, which arose as a result of direct political action, would remain an apparatus of oppression until the legal differences between the victors and the vanquished were erased.

Mention should also be made of the views of the German sociologist and philosopher M. Weber (1864-1920), who argued that G. not only has a monopoly on physical violence, but is also the only source of the “right” to violence. Capitalism - with its rational religion (Protestantism), rational production, etc. - Weber considered the most reasonable and viable way to organize the economy.

The author of the psychological theory of the emergence of G., the Russian-Polish sociologist L. Petrazhitsky, defined society and G. as the totality of the psychological interaction of people and their associations. The essence of this theory is the assertion that a person experiences a psychological need to live within an organized community and take part in collective production. The emergence of G. in this case is a consequence of the psychological development of a person, the formation of peculiar “legal emotions”.

From the concept of “historical types of G.” It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of “forms of organization of state power” (monarchy, republic) and “political regime of Germany.” (parliamentary, fascist, totalitarian, etc.).

In constitutional law, a government is understood as a socio-political organization operating in a certain territory and possessing supreme power there. Depending on the form of government, a state can act as a single whole (unitary state) or as a set of partially sovereign states that together make up a sovereign state—a federation.

The constitutional status (characteristic) of a state is the most concentrated expression of the principles on which, by the will of the constitutional legislator, a given state should be based. As a rule, the characteristics of a state are contained in the first article of the constitution and includes such definitions (or some of them), as “independent”, “sovereign”, “democratic”, “legal”, “unitary” (“federal”), “social”, “secular”, “one and indivisible”, as well as an indication of the form of government (“republic” ). For example, “Russian Federation - Russia is a democratic federal legal state with a republican form of government” (Clause 1 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) or “The Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) is a sovereign, unitary, democratic Republic, built on the principles of a legal, secular state” (clause 1 of article 1 of the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan). The content of these characteristics (principles of civil law) is revealed in more or less detail in the text of the constitution and other constitutional legal acts, as well as in constitutional legal and general legal theory (see Rule of Law. Secular State, Social State, Federalism).

The constitutional characteristics of the State, for all its brevity and seeming standard at first glance, actually places very significant accents that reflect the specifics of the given State. Thus, in countries where there are problems with territorial integrity (Moldova, Georgia, etc.), the definition of the State. includes a reference to “unity and indivisibility” or something similar.

In specific legal relations, government acts as a set of official authorities (government, parliament, courts, etc.) operating on a national scale or a federal subject or a territorial community enjoying the legislative autonomy (for example, a region in Italy) with local agents (representatives) of these authorities (prefectures, commissioners, etc.).

G. in international law. G. - primary and main subject international law, as well as a participant in international relations. Geography represents a combination of three elements: a certain territory, the population living on it, and a political organization (authority). The main quality of government, characterizing it as a subject of international law, is state sovereignty.

The primacy of countries as subjects of international law is expressed in the fact that no one creates them as such; they exist as an objective historical reality. On the other hand, countries themselves can create derivative subjects of international law - international organizations. As a primary subject, Germany has universal international legal capacity. It is the G. that develop the norms of international law, establish responsibility for their violation, and determine the international legal order and the functioning of international organizations. These possibilities of G. are not limited by anything except the principles and norms of international law created by them. The modern doctrine of international law identifies the following fundamental rights of a country: the right to independence and free exercise of all its legal rights, to exercise jurisdiction over its territory and over all persons and things located within its borders, in compliance with recognized immunities, equality with other countries. , the right to individual and collective self-defense against armed attack. The main duties of a city: to refrain from interfering in the internal and external affairs of another city, to respect human rights, to establish conditions on its territory that would not threaten international peace; resolve your disputes with another G. by peaceful means; refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with international law; refrain from providing assistance to another G. who violates a previous duty or against whom the UN is taking preventive or coercive measures; fulfill your duties conscientiously international obligations. For international law, the division of states into simple (unitary) and complex (federations) is of particular importance.

G. is a subject of civil law, one of the types of participants in civil legal relations. In these legal relations, it has a special target legal capacity, which is in some ways wider and in some ways narrower than that of individuals or legal entities. Some rights may belong only to G., for example, to acquire the property of deceased persons who have no heirs, or to issue government securities. Unlike other subjects of civil law, they can own any property, including those excluded from civil circulation. At the same time, G. does not have the right, for example, to transfer property by inheritance or have his own company name. State bodies cannot be participants in general partnerships and general partners in limited partnerships. They do not have the right to act as participants in business companies and investors in limited partnerships, unless otherwise provided by law. In addition to quantitative differences, there are also qualitative differences. G. participates in civil circulation not in his own private interests, but for the purpose of the most effective administration of public power. A distinctive property of G. as a subject of civil legal relations is its sovereignty (i.e., not subject to anyone). This property is associated, for example, with state immunity in foreign trade (see State immunity).

Incomplete definition ↓

Ticket 1.

1. State: concept (3 definitions), characteristics, essence.

Concepts: The state is a society at the highest level of development (Greeks). Hegel: the state is the procession of God on Earth. State- this is a special organization of political power that has a special apparatus (mechanism) for managing society to ensure its normal functioning. The state is an organization of political power that acts in relation to the entire population in a fixed territory, using the law and the social apparatus of coercion.

Signs of the state

Territory and territorial organization of power. Internal territorial division.

Population.

Sovereignty.

Tax system.

The presence of a special public apparatus of governance, which has a special legal apparatus of coercion - the use of force and control (police, courts, army).

Legislative system.

Availability of state symbols, capital, coat of arms, state language.

Concepts of the state.

State - an organization of political power that governs society and ensures order and stability in it.

The state is an organization of political power that promotes the primary implementation of specific class, universal, religious, national and other interests within a certain territory.

The state is a special organization of the political power of society, which has a special apparatus of coercion, expressing the will and interests of the ruling class or the entire people.

Signs of the state.

Availability of public authority

System of taxes and loans

Territorial division of the population

Monopoly on lawmaking

Monopoly on the legal use of force and physical coercion.

Is in stable legal ties with the population living on its territory

Possesses certain material means to carry out its policies

Acts as the sole official representative of the entire society

Sovereignty

Symbols – coat of arms, flag, anthem

The essence of the state.

The main thing in the essence of the state is the substantive side, that is, whose interests this organization of political power carries out.

In this regard, we can distinguish class, universal, religious, national, and racial approaches to the essence of the state.

The class approach, within which the state can be defined as the organization of political power of the economically dominant class.

A universal approach within which the state can be defined as an organization of political power that creates conditions for a compromise of the interests of various classes and social groups.

Within the framework of the religious approach, the state can be defined as an organization of political power that primarily promotes the interests of a particular religion.

Within the framework of the national approach, the state can be defined as an organization of political power that promotes the primary implementation of the interests of the titular nation by satisfying the interests of other nations living on the territory of a given country.

Within the framework of the racial approach, the state can be defined as an organization of political power that promotes the preferential implementation of the interests of a certain race by satisfying the interests of other races living in the territory of a given country.

1. Definition of the state and its characteristics.

2. Basic concepts of the origin of the state.

3. Types and forms of the state. Form of government and government structure.

4. Characteristic features of the rule of law.

Definition of the state and its characteristics.

A state is a special organization of society, united by common social and cultural interests, occupying a certain territory, having its own management system, security system and possessing internal and external sovereignty.

The term is commonly used in legal, political as well as social contexts. Currently, all the land on planet Earth, with the exception of Antarctica and the adjacent islands, is divided between approximately two hundred states.

Compared to a community, which is a simple (unorganized) society, the state contains a social class (or classes), the professional occupation of which (or which) is the management of common affairs (in a communal structure, each community member is involved in the management of such).

Neither in science nor in international law there is a single and generally accepted definition of the concept of “state”. Still, we will try to give clear definitions in these areas.

Definition of a state in international law.

As of 2005, there is no legal definition of a state recognized by all countries of the world. The largest international organization, the UN, does not have the power to determine whether something is a state. “Recognition of a new state or government is an act that only states and governments can commit or refuse to commit. As a rule, it means a willingness to establish diplomatic relations. The United Nations is not a state or a government, and therefore has no power to recognize any state or government."

One of the few documents defining a “state” in international law is the Montevideo Convention, signed in 1933 by only a few American states.

Definition of the state in science

The explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Ozhegov and Shvedova gives two meanings: “1. The main political organization of society, carrying out its management, protection of its economic and social structure" and "2. A country governed by a political organization that protects its economic and social structure.”

“The state is a specialized and concentrated force for maintaining order. A state is an institution or a series of institutions whose main task (regardless of all other tasks) is to maintain order. The state exists where specialized agencies for maintaining order, such as the police and the judiciary, have been separated from other spheres of public life. They are the state” (Gellner E. 1991. Nations and nationalism / Translated from English - M.: Progress. P.28).

“The state is a special, fairly stable political unit, representing an organization of power and administration separated from the population and claiming the supreme right to govern (demand the implementation of actions) certain territory and population, regardless of the latter’s consent; having the strength and means to implement its claims” (Grinin L. E. 1997. Formations and civilizations: socio-political, ethnic and spiritual aspects of the sociology of history // Philosophy and Society. No. 5. P. 20).

“The state is an independent centralized socio-political organization for regulating social relations. It exists in a complex, stratified society, located in a certain territory and consisting of two main strata - the rulers and the ruled. The relationship between these layers is characterized by the political dominance of the former and the tax obligations of the latter. These relationships are legitimized by an ideology shared by at least part of society, which is based on the principle of reciprocity” (Claessen H. J. M. 1996. State // Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology. Vol. IV. New York. P.1255).

Signs of the state.

General features and distinctive features of the state, characterizing it as a specific organization of society. These include:

1) territory. The state is a single territorial organization of political power throughout the country. State power extends to the entire population within a certain territory, which entails the administrative-territorial division of the state. These territorial units are called differently in different countries: districts, regions, territories, districts, provinces, districts, municipalities, counties, provinces, etc. The exercise of power on a territorial principle leads to the establishment of its spatial limits - the state border, which separates one state from another;

2) population. This feature characterizes people’s belonging to a given society and state, composition, citizenship, the order of its acquisition and loss, etc. It is “through the population” within the framework of the state that people are united and they act as an integral organism - society;

3) public power. The state is a special organization of political power that has a special apparatus (mechanism) for managing society to ensure its normal functioning. The primary cell of this apparatus is the state body. Along with the apparatus of power and administration, the state has a special apparatus of coercion, consisting of the army, police, gendarmerie, intelligence, etc. in the form of various compulsory institutions (prisons, camps, hard labor, etc.). Through the system of its bodies and institutions, the state directly manages society and protects the inviolability of its borders. The most important government bodies, which to one degree or another were inherent in all historical types and varieties of the state, include legislative, executive and judicial. At various stages of social development, state bodies change structurally and solve problems that are different in their specific content;

4) sovereignty. The state is a sovereign organization of power. State sovereignty is a property of state power that is expressed in the supremacy and independence of a given state in relation to any other authorities within the country, as well as. its independence in the international arena, subject to non-violation of the sovereignty of other states. The independence and supremacy of state power are expressed in the following:

a) universality - only decisions of state power apply to the entire population and public organizations of a given country;

b) prerogative - the possibility of canceling and invalidating any illegal act of another public authority:

c) the presence of special means of influence (coercion) that no other public organization has at its disposal. Under certain conditions, the sovereignty of the state coincides with the sovereignty of the people. The sovereignty of the people means supremacy, their right to decide their own destiny, to shape the direction of the policy of their state, the composition of its bodies, and to control the activities of state power. The concept of state sovereignty is closely related to the concept of national sovereignty. National sovereignty means the right of nations to self-determination, up to and including secession and the formation of independent states. Sovereignty can be formal when it is proclaimed legally and politically, but is not actually implemented due to dependence on another state dictating its will. A forced limitation of sovereignty takes place, for example, in relation to those defeated in a war by the victorious states, by decision of the international community (UN). Voluntary limitation of sovereignty can be allowed by the state itself by mutual agreement to achieve common goals, when uniting in a federation, etc.;

5) publication of legal norms. The state organizes public life on a legal basis. Without law and legislation, the state is unable to effectively lead society and ensure the unconditional implementation of the decisions it makes. Among the many political organizations, only the state, represented by its competent bodies, issues orders that are binding on the entire population of the country, in contrast to other norms of public life (moral norms, customs, traditions). Legal norms are ensured by measures of state coercion with the help of special bodies (courts, administration, etc.);

6) mandatory fees from citizens - taxes, taxes, loans. The state establishes them to maintain public authority. Mandatory fees are used by the state to maintain the army, police and other compulsory bodies, the state apparatus, etc. to others government programs(education, healthcare, culture, sports, etc.);

7) state symbols. Each state has an official name, anthem, coat of arms, flag, memorable dates, public holidays, which differ from the same attributes of other states. The state establishes the rules of official behavior, forms of people addressing each other, greetings, etc.

. Theological theory

The theory under consideration is not scientific, since it is obviously based not on knowledge in its usual understanding, but on faith in God. It can neither be proven nor disproved without resolving the question of the existence of God.

The original religious and mythical ideas about the divine origin of state and law are characterized by extremely wide diversity. This is fully explained by the special historical conditions of the existence of religions and early state entities, both the Ancient East and the Ancient West, Mesopotamia or Africa. Only later were these views reworked on the basis of various currents of Christianity into a relatively integral theological doctrine; the doctrines of Judaism, Islam (Islam), Buddhism and others emerged.

In the theological theory - the teaching of the theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), which in later times was called “Thomism”, the process of the emergence of state and law was considered similar to God’s creation of the world. Religion, according to the teachings of F. Aquinas, must justify the need for the emergence and existence of a state from God. In turn, the state is obliged to protect religion. The sanctification (the monarch is God's anointed) of state power with a divine aura gave such power both authority and the unconditional obligation of the unlimited power of the monarch.

IN ancient Greece a student of Socrates (469-399 BC), a descendant of the famous legislator Solon, Aristocles, under the nickname Plato (427-347 BC), founded a school in the suburbs of Athens, where he taught that the source of the origin of state and law is a deity. Plato's student and teacher of Alexander the Great - Aristotle (384-322 BC) - is also a supporter of the divine origin of state and law. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle expressed the position that along with the laws generated by people, there are eternal, unwritten laws, “implanted in the hearts of people by the divine mind itself.” These laws are based on the eternal, unshakable divine order, which prevails not only in human sensations, but also “in the entire structure of the universe.” However, along with it, the emergence and development of the state and law were decisively influenced by the thirst for money and power, greed, ambition, arrogance, cruelty and other negative human traits.

Theological theory reached its dawn in the Middle Ages. At the stage of the transition of peoples to feudalism and during the feudal period at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries in Western Europe, the theory of “two swords” was developed. Its main meaning was to establish the supremacy of church power over secular power (the state) and to prove that there is no state and law “not from God.”

. Patriarchal theory

This theory originates from the depths of theology. Already in ancient times, Plato and Aristotle put forward the idea that human society was originally patriarchal. Aristotle spoke more clearly on this matter. According to Aristotle, the state is not only a product of natural development, but also the highest form of human communication.

In the 17th century, the existence of absolutism in England was justified from the same positions in the works of the English sociologist R. Filmer “Patriarchy, or the Defense of the Natural Law of Kings” (1642), “The Patriarch” (1680). Thus, the origin of the state and the theory of the “divine right of kings” were derived from the original patriarchy.

Medieval secular feudal lords also resorted to the patriarchal theory of the origin of state and law to justify the unlimited power of the monarch - the father of his subjects and the entire nation.

Later, this theory was reflected in the statements of one of the theorists of populism in Russia, sociologist N.K. Mikhailovsky (1842-1904), and in the West - the English legal historian G. Maine and others.

State power, according to supporters of the patriarchal theory, is nothing more than a continuation of paternal power. The power of the sovereign, the monarch, is the patriarchal power of the head of the family. Patriarchal theory served in the Middle Ages as a justification for the absolute (“paternal”) power of the monarch. Just like the father in the family, the monarch in the state is not elected.

It is characteristic that there is not a single historically reliable evidence of such a method of the emergence of state and law. On the contrary, it is considered established that the patriarchal family, as a historically natural phenomenon, arises in the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system, together with the state.

. Contractual and natural law theories

This theory contains extremely many aspects, is contradictory and inconsistent at various historical stages of development. It has absorbed the contradictory views of the greatest thinkers of all times, sometimes standing on diametrically opposed political, legal and philosophical positions. A number of authors highlight the contractual theory as a theory of the origin of the state, and consider the theory of natural law from the standpoint of the origin of law.

The theory under consideration as a contractual one, based on natural human rights, is based approximately on the following general provisions:

the emergence of the state is preceded by the natural state of people;

the state arose and was based on a social contract, people tired of fighting with nature and with each other. The state and law are presented as a product of reason and will (people and God). Having decided to leave the “natural” (pre-state) state, people united into a state under certain conditions, and they voluntarily transfer to the state part of their innate (natural) rights and freedoms. And the state ensures the protection of private property and personal safety of those who have entered into an agreement;

As a result of the creation of the state, two systems of law are formed in society: natural and positive (or positive). The first is a natural right (to life, freedom, social equality, property, etc.), embodying unconditional reason and eternal justice, in a word, what is inherent in a person from birth and inherent in his very essence. The second is a positive acquired right, which comes from the state (laws, customs approved by it, precedents). The primary law is natural law - eternal and unchangeable for all times and peoples. Subordinate to him are the norms (rules of behavior) established and changed (cancelled) by the state.

Positive law is existing, currently valid law. Natural law, emanating from “universal reason,” became like wishes and recommendations of what real, that is, positive law should ideally be.

The contractual and natural law theories reach the peak of their development when they become the theoretical basis of the ideology of the anti-feudal bourgeois revolutions of the 17th-18th centuries. At this time, the school of natural law was formed, which had a great influence on the development of bourgeois national law and international law: G. Grotius and B. Spinoza in Holland; T. Hobbes and D. Locke in England; in France - J.J. Rousseau, P. Holbach, D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu; in Russia - P.I. Pestel, as well as A.N. Radishchev (1749-1802). The latter believed that the state arises as a result of a silent agreement between members of society in order to jointly protect against the tyranny of the powerful.

It is believed that the first to attempt to adapt the theory of natural law to the interests of the bourgeoisie was G. Grotius (1583-1645). Theoretical basis and the ideological justification for the bourgeois revolutionary movement in France were the ideas of J.J. Rousseau (1712-1778). Considering the state as a product of the Social Contract, he believed that each person transfers his personality and all his powers to the common property. As a result, a collective whole is formed, which was previously called a “civil community”, later - a “republic or political organism...”. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), the program document of the Great French Revolution (1789-1794), states: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.

The Declaration of Independence of the United States (1776), adopted according to the draft of T. Jefferson (1743-1826), states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed with unalienable rights, that these include the right to life, liberty and security.” pursuit of happiness". For official state doctrine this was an absolute innovation.

Since the end of the 19th century. and up to the present time there has been a period of so-called revived natural law. But some authors believe that modern theories of natural law were most widespread in the middle of the last century. With the adoption of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, the influence of natural law doctrines began to wane. Politicians and lawyers, when arguing their positions on human rights, prefer to refer to international covenants as normative documents. In many countries, interest in theories of natural individual rights is declining.

. Psychological theory

This theory became widespread at the beginning of the 20th century in Germany, France, and Russia. Representatives of this theory: Cicero, N.M. Korkunov, 3. Freud, J.F. Maitland-Jones. One of its founders is the Russian lawyer L.I. Petrazhitsky (1867-1931). According to his ideas, law is divided into: intuitive - these are the legal ideas, beliefs, experiences, and views inherent in a person. And the positive thing is a set of official legal norms.

Cicero believed that the state is the property of the people. A people is not any combination of people gathered in any way, but a union of many people connected with themselves in matters of law and community of interests.

From the psychological need of an individual to command or obey, the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) deduced the need to create a state and law. He proceeded from the existence of an original patriarchal horde, the despotic head of which, at the dawn of history, was allegedly killed by his rebellious sons, driven by special biopsychological, sexual instincts (“Oedipus complex”). In order to suppress the aggressive drives of man in the future, it was necessary, according to Freud, to create the state, law, the entire system of social norms and civilization in general.

In contrast to such views, supporters of the socio-psychological direction of this school (French philosopher E. Durkheim (1858-1917) and others) develop, in the traditions of Aristotle, a view of man as a being, primarily social in nature, and not psychobiological.

In a state, an individual is naturally absorbed into the collective, and laws are the essence of people’s collective ideas about what should be done. Highly appreciating the concept of natural law, the prominent pre-revolutionary Russian statesman N.M. Korkunov elevated the state and law to the “psychological unity of people.” The state, in his opinion, arises as a result of people’s awareness of their dependence on external power. The state and law acquire in the eyes of people the meaning of a certain objective order, “independent of human will, standing above human arbitrariness.”

. Organic theory

All theories that explain the origin of state and law from one or another materialist position, to one degree or another, served as a kind of counterbalance to the previously dominant theological and natural law theories. The emergence of Darwinism (the materialistic theory of evolution) in the 19th century organic world) gave rise to

attempts to mechanically transfer biological laws (interspecific and intraspecific struggle for survival, natural selection, biological evolution, etc.) to social processes. In sociology, this general trend is called social Darwinism.

A prominent place here was occupied by the organic theory of the origin of state and law, based on the analogy of society with a developing biological organism. We again find its origins in philosophical terms in the writings of some ancient Greek thinkers, including Plato (IV-III centuries BC), who compared the state with a living organism, and the laws adopted by the state with human processes psyche.

The largest representatives of the organic theory of the origin of state and law at the time of its dawn were: one of the founders of positivism, the English philosopher and sociologist G. Spencer, as well as Bluntschli, Worms, Preuss. The state, according to representatives of this theory, is a product of the forces of nature. It is formed during the centuries-old evolution of man and is itself similar to the human body. State power is seen as an expression of the dominance of the whole organism over its constituent parts (like animal organisms, in which all parts are subordinated to the good of the whole). According to representatives of this doctrine, the state is an organism, constant relations between its parts are similar to the constant relations between parts of a living being. The state is a product of social evolution, which is only a variety of biological evolution. The state, being a type of biological organism, has a brain (rulers) and the means to carry out its decisions (subjects).

Just as among biological organisms, as a result of natural selection, the fittest survive, so in social organisms, in the process of struggle and war (also natural selection), specific states are formed, governments are formed, and the structure of governance is improved. But one cannot mechanically extend the laws inherent in biological evolution to social organisms; one cannot completely reduce social problems to biological problems. Science convincingly proves the discrepancy between biological and social processes.

. Theory of violence

In the 19th century, the theory of violence became widespread in the West. Its most prominent supporters are the German philosopher and economist E. Dühring (1833-1921), the Austrian sociologist and statesman L. Gumplowicz (1838-1909), as well as the “revisionist of Marxism” and one of the theorists of the Second International K. Kautsky (1854 - 1938 ) and others.

The beginnings of this theory can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek sophists (V-IV centuries BC). This was confirmed by wars of conquest Ancient Sparta and subsequently to Ancient Rome.

L. Gumplowicz, who made a significant contribution to the final formation of the basic principles of the theory of violence in turn of the 19th century and 20th centuries, in his views he relied on Spencer’s evolutionary theory and shared the positions of so-called social Darwinism. At the same time, Gumplowicz combined the biological approach to social evolution with the psychologization of social life. In his fundamental work " General teaching about the state" Gumplowicz wrote: "History does not present us with a single example where the state arose not with the help of violence, but in some other way."

The theory of violence ultimately boiled down to two practical conclusions:

1) “Classic version” (L. Gumplowicz). Based on the examples of the formation of a number of states in Europe (early German, Hungarian, etc.) and Asia, it should be considered that the state arises in the course of “natural selection” (struggle with neighboring tribes), as a result of the conquest of weak tribes by strong tribes, the winners form the ruling class, and the defeated and enslaved - “the class of workers and employees”; “as a result of the subordination of one class of people to another, a state is formed.”

2) According to K. Kautsky, since in a bourgeois society a worker voluntarily enters into an agreement with a capitalist entrepreneur, the bourgeois state does not force workers and working people in general to sell their labor power, therefore such a state is democratic, free and expresses the will of the entire people. Revolution, Kautsky believes, is natural in the struggle against the feudal state, but it is not needed in the presence of a bourgeois state.

Analyzing the theory of violence from these positions, the famous German state scientist and jurist G. Jellinek (1851-1911) argued, not without reason, that it has as its goal and is intended not to explain the reasons and conditions for the emergence of the state and law in the past, but to justify them in present. It is no coincidence that the theory of violence was adopted by Nazi Germany as an official state and legal ideology.

When characterizing wars of conquest in historical terms, it should be borne in mind that they become possible only after society is economically able to provide for the maintenance of the state apparatus and, above all, the army.

. Historical-materialist (Marxist) theory

One of the main works of Marxism is devoted to the issues of the origin of the state and law in their unity - the work of F. Engels “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State”, in connection with the research of Lewis G. Morgan (1884). Largely based on the material of the work of Friedrich Engels, there is also a famous lecture by V.I. Lenin's "On the State", read in 1919, in which he wrote that "the state in no way represents a force imposed on society from the outside." The state is a product of society at a certain stage of development...".

Arising from the needs of society, the state initially seeks to ensure public interests (for example, in the East - irrigation of large areas of land) and protection from external enemies. With the emergence and accumulation of private property, the property stratification of society into classes and the development of class contradictions, the state began to adapt to ensure the interests of the economically dominant minority in relation to the dependent and exploited majority. According to Marxist theory, the immediate basis for the emergence of the state, which determines its class essence, is a certain social-class structure of society, namely the existing various classes and their relationships: antagonistic and non-antagonistic contradictions, cooperation, struggle for influence or neutrality.

The Marxist doctrine of state and law contains the following basic provisions:

1) The state and law are always class phenomena in their essence, and therefore exist only in a class society.

2) They arise with the division of society into classes as an objectively necessary result of their struggle and the social division of labor. The development of the state and law is ultimately determined by production relations: the state and law, having relative independence, have a reverse impact on all spheres of society.

The state and law are instruments of class domination; they implement, support, and protect the entire system of this domination. Representing the will and interests of the ruling classes, the state and law in their functions accumulate, form and implement mainly the will and interests of these classes. Changing the state and law does not change their essence. With the change in the types of class society, the type of state and law changes. With the disappearance of classes within the communist formation, the state and law wither away. It should be noted that only the last circumstance has not found its historical confirmation, perhaps due to the fact that until now, after its emergence, classes have not disappeared in any society of any country in the world.

. Historical-materialist (non-Marxist) theory

It is the historical-materialist theory of the origin of state and law that has a strictly scientific basis. From the second half of the 80s and into the 90s. in domestic science there has been a significant shift in the study of issues of the origin of state and law. Two approaches began to emerge in the historical-materialist concept. One is Marxist. The second approach is non-Marxist, based on the fact that the need to improve the management of primitive society and the need to solve “common affairs” lead to the emergence of state and law. Upon careful comparison of both materialist approaches, one can notice that the second approach is fundamentally different from the Marxist one. Mainly - by criticizing the latter in excessively exaggerating the role of classes and class struggle and in asserting - the state will not die out with the disappearance of classes, but will exist as long as human civilization exists at all, that is, “eternally.”

Critically assessing a number of provisions in F. Engels’s work “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State,” A.B. Vengerov specifically emphasizes “that this in no way detracts from its specific historical significance, the role that this book played in understanding the origin of the state, in general in the history of the spiritual life of the 20th century.” And he considers as reliable the “materialistic and dialectical approach to the development of primitive society, as well as the statement about the relationship between the formation of class society and the state. Therefore, this theory can also be called the class theory of the origin of the state. Considering it erroneous” the exaggeration of the role of classes in the creation of the state, especially the ruling class ", A.B. Vengerov emphasizes that it was Marxist "theory that highlighted those features in the origin of the state that were either not noticed in other theoretical ideas, or were deliberately camouflaged, again for the sake of certain ideological ideas and interests."

. Irrigation theory

The irrigation theory (or the concept of the “hydraulic” origin and development of statehood in some countries of the Ancient East) is associated with the name of the modern German scientist K.A. Wittfogel. In his work “Oriental Despotism,” the emergence of the state in a number of countries of the Ancient East is associated with the need to build giant irrigation structures in the eastern agricultural regions. According to this concept, necessity leads to the formation of a “managerial-bureaucratic class” that enslaves society.

Indeed, the processes of creating and maintaining powerful irrigation systems took place in the regions where the primary city-states were formed: in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China and other regions most unfavorable for agriculture. The state, forced to pursue a strictly centralized policy in such conditions, acts as the sole owner and at the same time the exploiter. It managed, distributed, took into account, subordinated. Such factors catalyzed this entire process and “brought” the regime of a particular state to extreme despotic forms. That is, the fact of the influence of geographical and climatic (soil) conditions on the formation of statehood can be considered almost indisputable. Also obvious is the connection of these processes with the formation of a large class of managers, officials, services, “sovereign” people who protect canals from silting, ensure navigation through them, achieving the effective use of these structures, through the exploitation of other citizens.

In general, one cannot but agree with the historical reliability of the observations that in real life, since the emergence of the state, there have been neither “purely class” nor “purely universal” state legal institutions. When determining the concepts and patterns of the origin of state and law, it is important to take into account both their class elements and corresponding characteristics, as well as non-class “universal” characteristics and traits. Although modern research no specific facts have been obtained that contradict the general laws of the emergence of the state. Therefore, within the framework of this theory, individual fragments of the process of state formation are too categorically singled out as the main, basic ones.

Thus, in the course of the decomposition of tribal society into antagonistic layers in the form of the poor and the rich, the need for society inevitably arises to have a force (state) capable of moderating the clashes of these social layers in order to prevent them from destroying each other in continuous struggle.

What is a state? Key Aspects

The state is a concept that is used often, which almost everyone knows, starting from a very young age. From that age when the Tsar-Father rules his kingdom-state in fairy tales. But not everyone can tell you what it is.

There are many ways to answer the question of what a state is. Here are some of them:

• the state is an organization of political power designed to ensure the livelihoods of people in its specific territory, possessing a coercive authority and collecting taxes and fees to ensure its internal and external functions;
• a state is a force, authority, organization that forces a person to do something, and therefore, at its beginning, is unjust and wrong.

And there are also a huge number of variations, meanwhile giving a specific and completely different interpretation of the question of what a state is. In jurisprudence, there are several characteristics that a state must have:

1. Any state must have a clearly defined and at least partially permanent territory.

This condition is sometimes cunningly circumvented by the owners of such organizations as unrecognized states.

For example, they register their own apartment or even a website as the territory of their state (no one said that the territory should be real and not virtual).

2. Right. What a state is is an organization, something ordered, and like any organized group of people, the state must have rules, i.e. law, laws, judicial system, etc.

3. The coercive apparatus - that is, the police, riot police, FBI, the system of fines and the like.

4. Public power is an important feature of the state. These are people professionally involved in management, drafting laws, collecting taxes and nothing else.

5. Taxes and fees for this public authority, social services, as well as public needs such as war, famine, crop failure or, say, restoration of monuments, preparation for the Olympics or road repairs.

6. Ideology is an optional item. Ideology in a state is a religion, philosophy or way of life. If there is no ideology, the state is called secular.

7. Social services– i.e. school, universities, hospitals, etc.

8. Sovereignty is the relationship of the state with other administrative units.

The main answer to the question of what a state is, whether this or that object is a state or not, is the recognition or non-recognition of it as such. Of course, other countries and their authorized representatives must recognize it.

Scholars disagree not only on the definition of a state, but also on its origins. There are several theories regarding the form of the emergence of the state: theological (God created everything, authors - Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine), social contract (people cannot live without society, so they entered into an agreement, authors - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, D. Lork, G. Hobbes and some others), Marxist, racial (the state is the result of the racial superiority of some peoples over others, authors - Gubino, Nietzsche) and a number of others.

The concept and characteristics of the state

Speaking about what the “concept and characteristics of a state” are, it is worth understanding the general definition of a state. The state represents a special institution historically isolated from society, personified in a special apparatus for managing (coercion) social processes operating within a certain territory in the exercise of sovereign state power, the publication of general laws and other various normative legal acts designed to streamline social relations. The state, as an organization of political power, manages the affairs of the entire society with the help of law and the state apparatus.

The concept and characteristics of the state

The state, as an institution, has its own characteristics and functions. First of all, it is worth mentioning the main features of the state:

1. Management is underway public affairs based on his varied interests. The state represents the interests of society and coordinates them.
2. Law is the source of state power, formalizes it legally and, thus, makes it legitimate. Law determines various shapes exercise of power in the state, sets a legal framework.
3. Governance in the state is carried out exclusively with the help of specially created bodies that are hierarchically dependent on each other.
4. The state unites people of different nationalities and religions.
5. The presence of sovereignty, interpreted as independence and supremacy of power.
6. The right to legislate and demand the execution of laws. Otherwise, various penalties may be applied.
7. Management of national resources, material foundation.
8. Established procedures for collecting taxes and fees from the population.
9. Symbols: coat of arms, anthem, flag.

The concept and characteristics of the state are not limited to those listed above, but the data is basic.

The functions of the state are the activities and their directions, in which its purpose in the life of society and the entire basic essence are expressed. The functions also reflect the mechanism of influence of the state on all processes occurring within it.

Main functions of the state:

1. Protection of law and order and legality, freedoms and rights of citizens.
2. Political (democracy and sovereignty).
3. Economic (control over the state budget, taxation system, pricing policy, etc.).
4. Social (health care system, pensions, etc.).
5. Ideological (raising a generation in the spirit of official ideology, promoting values ​​and ideas).
6. Environmental (protection environment, restoration of natural resources);
7. Protecting citizens from threats from the outside.
8. Interaction international organizations and other states.

Basically, a distinction is made between organizational and legal forms of implementation of government functions. Legal ones include: law-making, law enforcement, law enforcement. Organizational forms include regulatory, ideological and economic. The functions of the state have different classifications and their own characteristics.

There is also such a thing as “state goals”. The main government goals include: creating conditions for economic development and maintaining social stability in society. All other goals follow from the data.

Also, the direct implementation of the goals are the tasks of state regulation. All tasks are carried out through functions.

Thus, summing up the topic “the concept and characteristics of the state,” we can say that the state is a special form of organization of society and occupies a major place in the structure of the political system.

Signs of the state

The state has sovereignty.

Concept, characteristics and types of state.

The state is:

1 ) territorial entity;

2 ) the organization of political power, which governs society, is necessary both for the implementation of class tasks and public affairs;

3 ) special public power, which does not merge with society, is separated from society;

4 ) complex and organized control mechanism .

State power is exercised by bodies who are only involved in management. The opposite of this power is public power, the implementation of which is characterized by the absence of special public institutions. In this case, the management of a society or social group is carried out with the help of institutions located within the society or group, and not outside them; we can talk not so much about control influence as about self-government.

Since the state is expressed in bodies, who are engaged only in organizing social life and do not produce anything themselves, it has the right to collect Money from the population. Taxes, fees, and loans are used to maintain the state apparatus and provide economic support for politics. This characteristic of the state is derived from its understanding as a public authority.

The power of the state extends to a certain territory, in contrast, for example, to the power that existed in primitive society. It applied to all members of the clan, regardless of their location.

Sovereignty:

1 ) the supremacy of power within the country;

2 ) independence in relation to the authorities of all persons and organizations located within the country, as well as outside the territory of the state.

Of two signs, which are components of sovereignty, previously noted mainly the second (independence, disobedience of the state as a sovereign to a supranational organization or another state).

State which first of all realizes itself as an instrument of social compromise, must correspond to the level of development democracy in society.

Constitutional state- This Democratic state, whose power, as well as its formation and functioning, are based on law, the highest purpose of which is to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. Ensuring law and order is the basis for the strength of democracy and the vitality of the rule of law. A legal, democratic, civilized state is one whose boundaries of power are strictly based on the law, and whose highest purpose is to recognize, respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. At the same time, both the rule of law and democracy presuppose the law and order necessary for any society.

The state is a very complex phenomenon, among its fundamentals, which have a direct impact on its essence and social purpose, in the specific historical conditions of the development of individual countries:

1 ) religious factor (Pakistan, Iran, etc.);

2 ) national factor (for example, the Baltic states).

Although this does not mean yet that all these factors must be included in the definition of the state in general. In this case, it is enough to start from its most general principles - class and universal.

State is a special organization of political power that governs society through legal norms and a specially formed apparatus.

The state has characteristics that distinguish it from other organizations and institutions of society, these are:

1 ) presence of public authority, which is implemented by bodies involved in management;

2 ) the presence of a complex control mechanism, formed in the form of a system of government bodies that are in hierarchical dependencies. Since these bodies are engaged only in management and do not produce anything, the state has the right to collect funds for their maintenance. These are various taxes, fees, loans that are used to maintain the state apparatus and ensure its economic policy;

3 ) association in the territory states of people regardless of their affiliation: racial, national, religious, etc.;

4 ) limiting one's territory state borders, indicating the limits of the exercise of state power;

5 ) existence of sovereignty. Sovereignty is a category that is expressed in the supremacy of power within the country, as well as independence in international relations. Sovereign power is supreme, independent, inalienable, universal power. The sovereignty of the state presupposes its independence in decision-making both in the field of domestic and foreign policy, the universal binding nature of the decisions of public authorities for everyone affected by them. In the legal sphere, the sovereignty of the state is expressed in its exclusive right to issue laws and other regulations;

6 ) ability to make laws and other normative acts that are valid throughout the entire state, contain rules of law that are binding;

7 ) presence of state symbols: flag, anthem, coat of arms;

8 ) enforcement laws and order with the help of special punitive and law enforcement agencies - courts, prosecutors, police, etc.;

9 ) order national resources;

10 ) Availability own financial and tax system;

11 ) connection with law, since only the state has the right and at the same time the obligation to issue laws and by-laws within its territory;

12 ) V at the disposal states there are armed forces and security agencies that ensure defense, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The concept of state includes includes a property that expresses the main, establishing, permanent and natural characteristics of the state.

In accordance with scientific principles Marxism the state is essentially an organization of political power in society represented by the economically dominant class. These provisions impoverished and distorted the idea of ​​the state, since they were one-sided and contained an understanding of the essence of the state and its social purpose only from class positions.

The universal purpose of the state- find a social compromise between different layers population and thereby ensure a general social orientation in the implementation of government functions. The state, therefore, must take into account both universal and class principles.

Typology of the state: formational and civilizational approaches

Typology of the state – This a special classification that divides states into certain types.

Type of state call a set of important features that characterize the class and economic aspects of the state.

Turning to the history of the development of statehood, as well as to the typology of states, we can distinguish several approaches to this issue.

Approaches to the typology of states:

1 ) formational approach. This approach was developed within the framework of the Marxist-Leninist theory of state and law. According to it, the type of state is understood as a system of basic features characteristic of states of a certain socio-economic formation, which is manifested in the commonality of their economic base, class structure and social purpose;

2 ) civilizational an approach.

To determine the type of state using the formational approach take into account:

1 ) correspondence of the state level to a certain socio-economic formation. Socio-economic formation– a historical type of society, which is based on a certain method of production;

2 ) a class whose instrument of power becomes the state;

3 ) social purpose of the state.

The formational approach identifies the following types of states:

1 ) slaveholding;

2 ) feudal;

3 ) bourgeois;

4 ) socialist.

According to the formational approach after a change in economic formation, a transition occurs from one historical type of state to another, newer one.

The formational approach has the following advantages:

1 ) the productivity of dividing states based on socio-economic factors;

2 ) the possibility of explaining the stage-by-stage development, natural-historical nature of the formation of the state.

Flaws:

1 ) one-sidedness;

2 ) spiritual factors are not taken into account.

Currently there are several common interpretations of the concept of “civilization”, as well as several types of typology of the civilizational approach. For example, quite often “civilization” is understood as culture, the development of society as a whole. “Civilization is a closed and local state of society, distinguished by a commonality of religious, national, geographical and other characteristics” ( A. Toynbee). In this case, depending on the characteristics, Egyptian, Western, Orthodox, Arab and other civilizations are distinguished. Thus we can talk about civilizations:

1 ) modern and ancient;

2 ) Western, Eastern, Orthodox, etc.

In a civilizational approach distinguish the following characteristics: chronological, production, genetic, spatial, religious, etc.

Associated with the civilizational approach theory of “stages of economic growth” ( W. Rostow), the theory of a “single industrial society”, the theory of “managerialism”, the theory of “post-industrial society”, the theory of “convergence”, etc.

Positive features of the civilizational approach:

1 ) highlighting spiritual and cultural factors;

2 ) a clearer typology of states.

Flaws:

1 ) low assessment of the socio-economic factor;

2 ) the predominance of the typology of society over the typology of the state.

Form of state: concept, characteristics.

Under the form of the state It is generally accepted to understand the way of organizing and exercising government power. The form of a state is the unity of three autonomous elements: the form of government, the form of state-territorial structure and the political regime.

The following factors may influence the form of the state:

1 ) socio-economic, cultural;

2 ) historical, national and religious traditions;

3 ) natural and climatic conditions;

4 ) alignment of political forces, etc.

To have a more complete understanding of the form of a particular state, it is necessary to analyze it structural elements:

1) form of government– organization of higher state bodies, the procedure for their formation, structure, powers, interaction with the population, as well as with each other. Main forms of government: monarchy and republic;

2) form of government– reflects the political-territorial organization of state power, determines the relationship between central and local authorities. According to the form of structure, states are divided into unitary, federal, confederal;

3) state-legal (political) regime– is a set of techniques, methods, methods, and means of exercising power. The main types of political regimes: authoritarian, democratic, totalitarian.

Thus, the form of the state determines:

1 ) the procedure for the formation of government bodies;

2 ) structure of government bodies;

3 ) the peculiarity of the territorial independence of the population;

4 ) the nature of the relationship between government bodies and each other;

5 ) the specifics of relations between government bodies and the population;

6 ) techniques, methods, methods of exercising political power.

In accordance with the specified above the classification of elements of the state, we will consider the form of modern Russian state.

Russian Federation in accordance with the Constitution (Article 1) is a democratic federal state of law with a republican form of government.

Functions of the state: concept, types, characteristics.

Functions of the Russian state – This the nature and direction of government activity, which has a decisive influence on the entire structure of the state apparatus. As a result, the initial, key approach to the study of the state must be considered one that examines it from the point of view of areas of activity. Changes in the functions of the state lead to changes in the overall structure of the state apparatus.

The functions of the state are different from the functions of government bodies that are specifically created for a particular type of activity. Thus, the functions cover the activities of the state as a whole.

The diverse functions of the Russian state can be classified on different grounds:

1) based on duration their implementation of one or another activity, the functions of the state can be divided into permanent (which the state implements throughout the entire development) and temporary (they are short-term in nature, cease to operate after solving a specific problem);

2) by importance– main and auxiliary. With the help of the former, the most important directions of the state are implemented, the implementation of the main strategic goals and objectives;

3) taking into account the direction state activities - general social and class;

4) depending on the area government activities – internal and external.

In modern legal literature, there is a common classification of the functions of the state, regardless of its type and scope of activity, namely:

1 ) economic function – aimed at ensuring the normal functioning and development of the economy, in particular through the organization of public works, protection of existing forms of ownership, production planning, organization of foreign economic relations, etc.;

2 ) political function – is associated with ensuring state and public security, national and social harmony, containing the resistance of opposing social forces, protecting the sovereignty of the state from external attacks, etc.;

3 ) social function – according to it, the state protects the rights and freedoms of the population or a certain part of it, takes measures to satisfy the social needs of people, maintain a decent standard of living of the population, comply with necessary working conditions, etc.;

4 ) ideological function – support for a certain ideology, organization of education, maintenance of science, culture, etc.

Tell me the scientific definition of “What is a state?”

Please don't just answer!!!

Valentina k

The state is the legal organization and functioning of power.
This is a set of official authorities operating throughout the country or in individual territorial entities of the country.
This is an organization of the political system (a way of organizing society), which is its official representative and spokesman for interests and has the authority, if necessary, to use means and coercive measures.

Other definitions of state:
“The state is a specialized and concentrated force for maintaining order. A state is an institution or a series of institutions whose main task (regardless of all other tasks) is to maintain order. The state exists where specialized agencies for maintaining order, such as the police and the judiciary, have been separated from other spheres of public life. They are the state” (Gellner E. 1991. Nations and nationalism / Translated from English - M.: Progress. P. 28).

“The state is a special, fairly stable political unit, representing an organization of power and administration separated from the population and claiming the supreme right to govern (demand the implementation of actions) certain territory and population, regardless of the latter’s consent; having the strength and means to implement its claims” (Grinin L. G. 1997. Formations and civilizations: socio-political, ethnic and spiritual aspects of the sociology of history // Philosophy and Society. No. 5. P. 20).

“The state is an independent centralized socio-political organization for regulating social relations. It exists in a complex, stratified society, located in a certain territory and consisting of two main strata - the rulers and the ruled. The relationship between these layers is characterized by the political dominance of the former and the tax obligations of the latter. These relationships are legitimized by an ideology shared by at least part of society, which is based on the principle of reciprocity” (Claessen H. J. M. 1996. State // Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology. Vol. IV. New York. P.1255).

“The state is a machine for the oppression of one class by another, a machine for keeping other subordinate classes in obedience to one class” (V.I. Lenin, Complete Works, 5th ed., vol. 39, p. 75).

Lyudmila Kolmogorova

State
The main institution of the political system of modern society and the most important form of its organization. The main purpose of government is to organize political power and govern society. Any government expresses and protects the interests of the entire society and the interests of the ruling circles. G. has signs and features that distinguish it both from the pre-state (primitive communal) organization of society and from the non-state (party, public, etc.) organizations that exist alongside it. The most characteristic features of a city are: a) the presence of an apparatus of power and control separated from society and often standing above it. It consists of a special layer of people whose main occupation is the performance of power and management functions. They do not directly produce either material or spiritual benefits, but only manage. These people occupy their positions by election, appointment, inheritance or replacement. The main components of this apparatus are government bodies, administrative bodies, courts, prosecutors, etc. The lowest level of the apparatus is the state body: b) the presence, along with the apparatus of power and management, of a coercive apparatus. It consists of special detachments of armed people - army, police, intelligence, counterintelligence, as well as in the form of all kinds of compulsory institutions (prisons, camps, etc.). The administrative apparatus, together with special detachments of armed people, is called public power, giving it paramount importance; c) division of the population into territorial units. In contrast to the tribal system, where social power extended to people based on consanguinity, depending on their belonging to one or another clan. phratries, tribes or unions of tribes, under a state system, power extends to them depending on the territory of their residence. Residents living on the territory of Georgia, regardless of production ties, are either citizens (in a republic), or subjects (in a monarchy), or stateless persons or foreigners subject to the jurisdiction of Georgia, subject to its laws; d) the entire territory of Georgia is divided into a number of administrative-territorial units. In different countries they are called differently: districts, provinces, regions, territories, districts, counties, districts, etc. But their purpose and functions are the same - the organization of state power and administration in the territory they occupy: e) sovereignty. It means, firstly, the supremacy of state power within the country. And secondly, its independence in the international arena. In sovereignty the sovereignty of a state finds its political and legal expression. It also expresses the ability of a state, independently of other states, to

A person is more or less dependent on the state, which is designed to protect his rights and security, but in return requires him to comply with numerous, sometimes very burdensome norms and rules.

Aristotle believed that initially people unite into families, then several families form a village, and at the final stage of this process a state is created as a form of community of citizens who enjoy a certain political structure and are subject to the authority of laws.

The views of ancient philosophers reflected the reality of the political life of states-policies. In the Middle Ages, the theory of the patrimonial state became widespread in Europe: state power was derived from the ownership of land, which corresponded to the political and legal practice of feudal society.

According to this theory, the state arose as a result of a conscious and voluntary agreement of people who were previously in a natural, pre-state state, but then, in order to reliably ensure their fundamental rights and freedoms, decided to create state institutions.

The state in its modern forms emerged over a long historical development. The state did not arise immediately: gradually the institutions of political leadership became isolated from society, to which, step by step, functions previously carried out by the entire tribe or clan were transferred. Initially insignificant, but over time, increasingly obvious property stratification led to the need to create specific norms, rules and structures that regulated property relations. Increasing clashes between numerically increased tribes over fertile lands, hunting territories, etc. caused the need to preserve the wealth of the tribe and increase it at the expense of others with the help of an armed force specially created for this purpose.

In addition to the general reasons for the emergence of the state, five factors can be identified that also accelerated the emergence of state structures and gave them certain specificity. These include conquest (say, from one tribe to another) and the need to create a mechanism of power to maintain the obedience of the enslaved; the presence of an external threat that required the creation of armed formations and regular collection of funds for their maintenance; the need to carry out large-scale economic work, unthinkable without the mobilization of significant material and human resources and the creation of an apparatus for their rational distribution and use.

The essence of the state.

Currently, the term “state” can have different meanings depending on the context.

Firstly, in the narrow sense of the word, the state is identified with representative and executive-administrative bodies of political power, as well as with the system of legal norms that determine their functioning.

Secondly, this term is used to designate relations of political power, i.e. relations of dominance and subordination between different groups of citizens, between authorities (for example, parliament and government), as well as between authorities and public organizations.

Thirdly, in everyday speech the term “state” is often used as a synonym for the concepts of “country”, “fatherland”, “society”.

This ambiguity of the term “state” is not accidental. It follows from the essence of the state not only as a class organization, but also as a universal organization designed to ensure the integrity of society. This ambiguity is also due to the very organization of the state, into the structure of which the main components of society are organically woven.

As a universal form of organization of society, the state consists of the following elements: territory, population, power.

Territory is the physical, material basis of the state. The territory of the state is that part of the world space in which the power of a given ruling political group fully operates. Moreover, this territory is not limited to the so-called solid ground. It includes subsoil, airspace, and territorial waters. In all of these environments, the state exercises its sovereign power and has the right to protect them from external invasion by other states and individuals.

Territory is primarily related to the issue of the emergence and disappearance of states. Ultimately, there are no states without territory. With the loss of territory (for example, as a result of war), the state ceases to exist. This explains the fact that many internal and external political conflicts begin to develop from the issue of control over one or another part of space. And that is why one of the main goals of the ruling political groups that are not in the service of foreign powers is to guarantee the territorial integrity of the state, for which various means are used - from diplomatic to military.

The population, as a constituent element of the state, is the human community living on the territory of a given state and subject to its authority. The entire population living on the territory of the state constitutes a community of people, a single people, a nation. In most Western countries, especially in English speaking countries, the concepts “people” and “nation” are used as identical. The concept of “nation” (from the Latin “natio” - tribe, people) is associated with the state, and by this we mean the entire community of people, the population of the territory occupied by the state, regardless of ethnicity, united by one government. Of course, in reality, within the framework of a people as the entire population of a given state, various ethnic groups (nationalities) often coexist, which also sometimes call themselves nations.

Power is a defining element (attribute) of the state. The state makes its decrees binding on the entire population. These orders are expressed in the form of legal norms (laws) adopted by authorized state bodies. It is through the legislative bodies of the state that the ruling political group conveys its will to the governed. The obligation of the population to comply with legal norms is ensured by the activities of executive and administrative government bodies, courts, other legal institutions, as well as a special enforcement apparatus. The latter consists of detachments of people deliberately organized for this purpose and having the appropriate material resources. The power of the ruling political group is exercised through a set of special institutions. The system of such institutions in political and legal science is usually called bodies of state power and administration. The main elements of this structure are the institutions of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, which have various countries different design and name. An important place in the structure of executive power is occupied by public order protection bodies and state security, as well as the armed forces. Through these bodies, the state's monopoly right to use coercive measures is ensured. Sometimes the media are called government bodies - state press, radio and television. However, the latter do not have any powers of authority and, therefore, cannot be classified as institutions of power.

The functions reflect the main directions of the state’s activities to fulfill its purpose. Its essence is revealed in the functions of the state. In the most general form, the state performs two main functions: intermediary and management functions.

The mediation function is directly related to the nature of the state as a tool for regulating contradictions and conflicts that arise in a society divided into social groups. Social conflicts can only be resolved with the help of social strength, rising above the private interests of various social groups. The state acts as such.

Along with mediating functions in relations between dominant and subordinate social groups, the ruling group is also forced to act as an arbiter in conflicts between its various parts.

The mediation function of the state is not limited to resolving internal social conflicts. State power is entrusted with the responsibility to resolve external conflicts and ensure the development of relations with foreign countries. The ability of the ruling political group to strengthen the country’s defense, increase its security, and develop international relations is so important that it can strengthen or lose its power depending on its success or failure in this matter. The mediation function is even more important for ensuring the external conditions of the country’s life, maintaining and strengthening the integrity of society, because external conflicts are fraught not only with the weakening of the state, but also with the cessation of its physical existence.

The function of management is to regulate the progress of affairs in the country as a whole, to more or less effectively control the implementation of certain types of activities necessary for the preservation and development of society as a whole. In any society there are problems related to defense, economics, use of natural resources, food production, development of health care, education, social security, justice, etc. The task of the state is to influence the social system as a whole and its individual elements in order to resolve these problems or mitigate their severity. The management function is no less important for the normal development of society than the regulation of social-class relations. Social stability and the prestige of the ruling political groups depend on the efficiency with which it is carried out.

So, the state, as the main institution of the political system, performs two main functions - intermediary and management functions. Both of them find their expression in the activities of the state to regulate both its internal and external problems. Analysis of the content of these two functions showed that they can be divided into a number of narrower ones in nature and content. In domestic political science and legal literature, all of them, as a rule, are divided into internal and external functions of the state. Internal ones include: protection of the existing method of production, regulation of social relations, economic activity, protection of public order and others. External functions include: ensuring the integrity, security and sovereignty of the country, protecting the interests of the state in the international arena, developing mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries, participating in solving global problems of humanity and others.

Territory, population, power, functions - all these are meaningful characteristics of a state that reflect what is common to all states.

States differ very significantly from each other in the characteristics of their internal organization, which is also revealed in the uniqueness of their external appearance. This applies to various components and aspects of state activity: the organization of power, territorial structure, methods of implementing government orders, the totality of functions performed, etc. The features of the structure and functioning of the state constitute its form. The form of a state consists of three elements: the form of government, the form of government and the form of political regime.

Based on the above characteristics, a definition of the state can be given.

State- is an organization of sovereign political power, acting in relation to the entire population on the territory assigned to it, using the law and a special apparatus of coercion.

So, the state is a complex social phenomenon, the distinctive feature of which is the forced regulation of people's behavior through normative norms.

A state is a political community, the constituent elements of which are territory, population and power.

The term states appeared in the 16th century. It was introduced by the Italian political thinker Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). Of course, the state as a social phenomenon had already existed for millennia before this.

The complexity of the state as a social phenomenon leads to the diversity of its definition. Since the state is a complex phenomenon, attempts have been made since ancient times to define the concept of “state”. However, until now there is no generally accepted understanding of it. Many researchers interpreted the state as a political community, association, union of people (Cicero, F. Aquinas, D. Locke, G. Grotius, I. Kant). I. Kant interpreted the state as “a society of people that disposes and governs itself.” According to L. Dugay, “the state means any human society in which there is political differentiation between the rulers and the governed, in one word “political power.”

Aristotle believed that the state is “a self-sufficient communication of citizens, not needing any other communication and not depending on anyone else.” N. Machiavelli defined the state through the common good, which should be obtained from the fulfillment of real state interests. The French thinker J. Bodin viewed the state as “the legal management of families and what they have in common with the supreme power, which must be guided by the eternal principles of goodness and justice. These principles should provide a common good, which should be the goal of the state structure.”

The English philosopher T. Hobbes defined the state as “a single person, the supreme ruler, the sovereign, whose will, as a result of the agreement of many persons, is considered the will of all, so that it can use the powers and abilities of everyone for common world and protection."

The creator of the ideological and political doctrine of liberalism, D. Locke, represented the state as “the general will, which is the expression of the prevailing force,” that is, the majority of citizens “part of the state.”

Hegel’s understanding of the state is based on his general philosophical system, which interprets the state as a generation of special spiritual principles of human existence: “The state is the reality of the moral idea - the moral spirit as an obvious, clear, substantial will, which thinks and knows itself and does what it does. knows and because she knows” Hegel. Philosophy of law. M., 1990. P.279..

Marxist-Leninist science defines the state based on its unchanging class nature. Since the state arises as a product of class society due to the split of society into irreconcilable classes, then “as a general rule, it is the state of the most powerful, economically dominant class, which, with the help of the state, also becomes the politically dominant class and thus acquires new means for suppression and oppression exploited class" Marx K. Engels F. Soch. T. 21. P.171-172..

In German literature, the state was defined in some cases as “the organization of common people’s life on a certain territory and under one supreme authority” (R. Mol); in others - as “a union of free people in a certain territory under a common supreme power, existing for the full use of the legal state” (N. Aretin); thirdly, as “a naturally occurring organization of power, intended to protect a certain legal order” (L. Gumplowicz).

It is noteworthy how Russian lawyers defined the concept of state. Korkunov Korkunov N. M. Lectures on the general theory of law. St. Petersburg , 1984. P.240. , for example, defines the state as “a social union representing an independent, recognized coercive rule over free people.” Trubetskoy believes that “there is a union of people that rules independently and exclusively within a certain territory.” Shershenevich and Kokoshkin interpret the state as a union of people under one government and within one territory.

In Russian literature of different periods one can also find many definitions of the state. A.I. Denisov Denisov A.I. Fundamentals of the Marxist-Leninist theory of state and law. M., 1948. P. 53., based on the conclusions of the classics of Marxism-Leninism, he believed that “the state is called precisely that special organization through which the class exercises its power, which is not limited by any laws - dictatorship.”

The educational literature also discusses views on the state. The authors of the textbook “Theory of State and Law” are M.P. Kareva, S.F. Kechekyan, A.S. Fedoseev, T.I. Fedkin identifies two class elements in the state: internal and external. They come to the conclusion that “the state is the political organization of the economically dominant class, the apparatus of power through which this class exercises its dictatorship, keeps its class opponents in check and protects the material conditions of its existence from any encroachment on them by forces hostile to it, both within country and abroad." The textbook “Theory of State and Law,” edited by Professor S. S. Alekseev, somewhat concretizes the definition of the state. In it, the state is considered as “a special organization of political power of the economically dominant class (workers led by the working class - in a socialist society), which has a special apparatus of coercion and gives its orders binding force for the population of the entire country” Theory of State and Law. M., 1985. P.38..

Due to its specific characteristics, the state as an institution or organization has always been different from other pre-state “existed before it” and non-state “existing alongside it” institutions and organizations. Identifying and studying these signs opens the way to a deeper understanding of not only the past, but the present of our country and other countries.

Throughout the history of human development, great thinkers and politicians of different times have expressed many different opinions and judgments about the main features of the state.

Apparently, each approach reflects one or another characteristic of the state, and only in combination do these approaches make it possible to form an understanding of the state as an integral social institution.