Meaning of State (What is, Concept and Definition)

What is State:

The word state refers to the situation in which people, objects, entities or contexts can be found at a certain time.This also covers the ways of being or being in the course of time.

The word comes from the Latin status , which means "to be stopped".Over time, the word began to be used to refer the status of something at a given time, a use that spread rapidly in politics to refer to the republic.

In its broadest sense, the word state can be used as follows: "Its state of health is excellent "; "They left the house in a state of abandonment"; "The social crisis has reached an alarming state"; "Let's check the weather before leaving"; "During the experiment the liquid has gone into a gaseous state".

State in politics

The State is a form of socio-political organization.It is an entity with sovereign power to govern and carry out political, social and economic functions within a delimited geographical area.The elements that constitute the State are population, territory and power.

The modern State is normally structured in three powers: power executive, legislative branch and judiciary .

At present, there are different forms of organization of a State.Among them, we can mention the central State, the federal State or the autonomous State, denominations concerning the way in which the territory is organized and the powers distributed.

The word State, referring to the maximum political unit of a country, is capitalized. For example : "The State of Chile"; "The Head of State announced new measures"; "There are rumors that there will be a coup d'etat." Likewise, capitalization is used when the word refers to military structures: General Staff, Central General Staff and General Staff.

Difference between State, nation and government

The words nation and government are erroneously used as a synonym for the State, according to the contexts.But although they are related, they are different definitions.Let's look at the difference.

The State is specifically understood as the organization of a territory under the domain of a government.

The nation refers to the community of people who share a language, culture, religion, history and/or territory.It can be organized in a national state or not.

A National state is one that results from the socio-political organization of a nation that shares a territory, a language and a common history.That is, is the State that represents a nation .This is the case of the ma and part of the modern states of today.For example, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, Colombia, etc.

Other States have been characterized by bringing together different nations under their domain.For example, the Spanish State ( which integrates the nations of Calaluna and the Basque country) or the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The word government , on the other hand, refers to the people that administer the State, regardless of its nature.In other words, the authorities are called government that, in the name of a State, exercise administrative functions of any kind for a certain time.

NationStateGovernmentCommunity of people who share language and culture within the framework of a history and/or territory.Form of social, political and economic organization that claims sovereignty over a given territory.Governing bodies of a State, represented by elected authorities or appointed by a competent institution.It is a con Historical and cultural concept.Abstract concept that integrates citizenship, territory, organization and reference values.Concrete and recognizable concept, since its actors can be identified.There can be a nation without a State.Example: Jewish nation during the diaspora.Timeless duration It is permanent Temporary duration Government representatives change periodically It is not a form of political organization Impersonal power Direct exercise of power in representation of the State

See also:

Regional State

In the countries of federal organization , such as the United States and Mexico, each of the political and geographical divisions of the territory is called state circumscribed to General Staff .

These entities have autonomy and have their own government chaired by a governor and articulated by a local administrative structure, for example: the state of Veracruz in Mexico or the state of Alabama in United States.

In this case, the word state is always written in lower case.For example: "The governor of the state Veracruz will attend the workers' assembly." Democrata lost the elections in the state of Alabama."

See also Executive branch.

Rule of law

It's called Rule of law to the constitutional regime that guarantees the exercise of freedom, the proper separation of public powers, the exercise of citizen rights and compliance with the law.

From all this emanates that the rule of law judicially protects citizens from abuse of power by the authorities.This type of regime is characteristic of democratic states.

State of exce pcion

When a country based on the rule of law faces a serious disturbance of public order (budding coup d'etat, uncontrolled looting, etc.), the government has the power to declare "state of exception".

This is the suspension of constitutional guarantees for a specific period.The term thus refers to a temporary condition in which a nation is found.

Marital status

Refers to the situation in which a citizen is in relation to their affiliations, from which a series of legal rights and duties are derived.The civil states are: single , married , divorced or widowed.

State of matter

In physical and chemical, the state or phases of matter are related to the molecular structure of each substance, they are different forms of aggregation that matter can acquire.

According to the pressure and temperature at to which a body is subjected, it can exist in one of three different states or phases.A classic example is water that can be in solid, liquid or gaseous state .

There are other states of matter that differ from the previous ones, such as plasma (ionized gas), Bose-Einstein condensate, fermionic condensate (superfluid at low temperatures) and neutron stars.

See also States of matter.