The Role of the State

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End of Semester Essay What is the role of the ‘state’? Discuss in the context of two or more political ideologies and/or social controversies. The state as an institution is described as being ‘’A political association that establishes sovereign power within a defined territorial area and possesses a monopoly of legitimate violence’’.(Harrison and Boyd,2003) The early sixteenth century saw the break-up of European Christendom which in turn gave rise to the modern state. It became ‘’a centralised power with exclusive law-making and law-enforcing authority over a territory’’ by the end of sixteenth century. (Harrison and Boyd, 2003) There are five major defining features that are commonly found amongst all states; ’it has the control of an identifiable population, it has the control of an identifiable geographical territory, it has high degrees of longevity compared to other social institutes, it is a structure of law in society and it is characterised by sovereignty.’(Harrison and Boyd, 2003) The state is often criticized as being a concept that is outdated; however it remains of high importance to those people whom have political aspirations. Furthermore it is important to clarify that the ‘state’ is not the same thing as ‘government’ which consists of state office holders responsible for state power direction on a temporary basis.(Harrison and Boyd, 2003) All activities of a political nature focus on the state, consequently the state is indebted to political theology. It is also a powerful structure allowing the manipulation of political power in a society. (Harrison and Boyd, 2003) State power is actively sought by political parties to enable them to put into action cultural, political or social programmes. Conservatism and Liberalism are just two of these political parties. (Harrison and Boyd, 2003) Both of these parties covet state power however
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