“State Power vs Public Power”

1603 Words7 Pages
After occupying a particular space and demarcation of territorial boundaries, the very next most important thing to be considered was, the political structure of the state. It becomes very necessary indeed, to decide the ruler ship and the ways, in which the public would be ruled though. Who would be the ruler and who would be ruled? What will be the criteria and nature of power of authority? Similarly, these questions of rightful authority and struggle between state power and public power arose, after the initial formation of modern state that is; absolute state. Modern state formation offered many challenges to the previously existed allegiances. Apparently, Maintenance of civil environment and management of administrative power became the prominent concern. Sovereignty became the ultimatum and legitimate power, certainly. It became the idea or a framework in which the ways of daily life were set. The new power authority induced the notions of nationalism and oneness. As David Held says; “In this context sovereignty became a new way of thinking about an old problem; the nature of power and rule. When established forms of authority could no longer be taken for granted it was the idea of sovereignty which provided a fresh link between political power and rulership. In the struggle between church, state and society, sovereignty offered an alternative way of conceiving the legitimacy of claims to power.” (Page, 106) Considering sovereignty as indivisible and supreme power, the king was regarded as supreme, authorized and the head of the state. “The absolutist monarch was at the apex of a new system of rule which was progressively centralized and anchored on a claim to supreme and indivisible power: sovereign authority. All these qualities were manifest in the routines and rituals of courtly life.” (Held, pg. 84) There were many political discourses and
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