Skip to main content

Government - Definition and Features of a State

 A state may be defined as a politically organised body of people inhabiting a defined geographical entity with an organized legitimate government.


A state must be free from all forms of external control to exercise its sovereignty within its area of jurisdiction. It must be noted that a state differs from a kingdom and empire. Nigeria is an example of a state, while Owu is a good example of a kingdom and Oyo, an empire. In order for a state to exist, it must have the following features.


  1. Population: The most obvious essential feature of a state is its people. “States where the population shares a general political and social consensus (an agreement) about basic beliefs, have the most stable governments.”
  2. Territory: A state or country or city has certain boundaries. Conflicts can arise between states and countries over where borders should be placed. Boundaries can also be changed due to war, purchase or territory, or negotiations between governments.
  3. Sovereignty: “The key characteristic of a state. Political sovereignty means the state has absolute supreme authority within the boundary of its territory. It can make laws, shape foreign policy, and make its own actions without the approval of a higher authority.
  4. Government: A government “is the institution through which the state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces decisions that are binding on its citizens.”
  5. Permanence: A state must be relatively permanent, unlike the government which changes from time to time. This permanence makes it possible for a state to develop as it should.
  6. Recognition: For a territory to be called a state, it must be recognized by other states and international organizations that surrounds it. This recognition will hinder any form of violence or war for boundaries and the likes.


Why People Obey the Laws of the State

The following are some reasons why people obey the laws of the state:


  • Because they come from a law-abiding family.
  • Because of moral obligations to the state. An important function of the state is to protect the rights, properties etc of citizens, and also to provide them with certain essential facilities. In return, it seems fair for citizens to reciprocate by obeying the laws of the state.
  • Some obey the law because they assume, and rightly so, that the laws are made for the general good of everybody in the state.
  • Fear of punishment.
  • It could also be for religious reasons. Religious people obey the laws of the state because they are taught to do so by their sacred books.
  • Loyalty to the government and for the purpose of ensuring stability and societal trust.


Why Some People Disobey the Laws of the State

The following are some reasons why some people disobey the laws of the state:


  • Sometimes, the government in power may be deemed to be illegitimate. Perhaps, the government is dictatorial, so the people choose to disobey the laws of the government.
  • Some people disobey the laws of the state if, for example, the person is convinced that the law violates the fundamental human rights of the individual. For instance, Nelson Mandela disobeyed some of the apartheid laws at the risk of being imprisoned for similar reasons.
  • In situations of a civil war or armed conflict, where there is a general breakdown of law and order, some people may choose to disobey the law of the state.
  • Sometimes, a particular law may conflict with an individual’s conscience. This conflict may be on the grounds of religion, morality or ideology. For this reasons, they choose not to obey the law. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Physics - Scalers and Vectors

  Introduction to Vectors and Scalars We come into contact with many physical quantities in the natural world on a daily basis. For example, things like time, mass, weight, force, and electric charge, are physical quantities with which we are all familiar. We know that time passes and physical objects have mass. Things have weight due to gravity. We exert forces when we open doors, walk along the street and kick balls. We experience electric charge directly through static shocks in winter and through using anything which runs on electricity. There are many physical quantities in nature, and we can divide them up into two broad groups called vectors and scalars. Scalars and Vectors Scalars are physical quantities which have only a number value or a size (magnitude). A scalar tells you how much of something there is. Definition: Scalar A scalar is a physical quantity that has only a magnitude (size). For example, a person buys a tub of margarine which is labelled with a mass of 500g....
Post a Comment
»»»

Chemistry - Separation Techniques

 A separation process or technique is a method that converts a mixture or solution of chemical substances into two or more distinct product mixtures. At least one of results of the separation is enriched in one or more of the source mixture’s constituents. In some cases, a separation may fully divide the mixture into pure constituents. Separations exploit differences in chemical properties or physical properties (such as size, shape, mass, density, or chemical affinity) between the constituents of a mixture. Processes and techniques are often classified according to the particular differences they use to achieve separation. If no single difference can be used to accomplish a desired separation, multiple operations can often be combined to achieve the desired end. With a few exceptions, elements or compounds exist in nature in an impure state. Often these raw materials must go through a separation before they can be put to productive use, making separation techniques essential for ...
Post a Comment
»»»

Chemistry - Mixtures

 We see mixtures all the time in our everyday lives. A stew, for example, is a mixture of different foods such as meat and vegetables; sea water is a mixture of water, salt and other substances, and air is a mixture of gases such as carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen. Definition: Mixture A mixture is a combination of two or more substances, where these substances are not bonded (or joined) to each other and no chemical reaction occurs between the substances. In a mixture, the substances that make up the mixture: are not in a fixed ratio Imagine, for example, that you have 250mL of water and you add sand to the water. It doesn’t matter whether you add 20g, 40g, 100g  or anyother mass of sand to the water; it will still be called a mixture of sand and water. keep their physical properties In the example we used of sand and water, neither of these substances has changed in any way when they are mixed together. The sand is still sand and the water is still water. can be separated...
Post a Comment
»»»