State, Nation, and Civil Society: Roles and Theories
The State as the Organization of Political Power
State sociology studies the relationship between the state and civil society.
Nation, State, and Civil Society
Nation
The concept of a nation has evolved over time. The average age a nation is defined as a group of people who are credited with the same origin. A nation is an organization with precise limits of the unit, which is based on consent.
In the modern era, nationalism misunderstood wars and conflicts caused by some thinkers argue that an idea that is opposed to the nation-state and tries to homogenize culture, language, and tradition.
Civil Society
Civil society consists of political, social, and legal citizens that recognize each other’s legal rights. It is a part of the public sphere that sits between the family and the state.
State
The state is the most widespread form of political organization among human communities. It is described in different ways. In legal and political issues, the word state arises with Machiavelli. This type of political organization called ”state” is a sociological, physical, legal, and ethical fact.
Functions of the State
- Maintain Law and Public Order: This is achieved by the police, charged with looking after the welfare of citizens and submitting to the orders of political authority.
- Promote the Common Good: The state is responsible for defending and promoting the common good in civil society.
- Managing Public Affairs: The state has an obligation to manage and legalize the issues that affect citizens.
- Be a Trader: State management in this environment is of vital importance because it collects taxes and produces various public goods for citizens.
- Issue Money and Regulate Markets: In modern societies, the state assumes the same functions and produces and circulates securities or treasury bills, etc.
- Distribution of Money: A welfare state exists when the state ensures health, education, and pensions for citizens, as well as a fair distribution of economic resources.
Exclusive Monopoly of Violence (Max Weber). It’s using the ability to impose forces and even find particular wills.
Platonic Theory
According to Plato, man signs the contract of citizenship, by which humans choose to belong to a state with the condition of enforcing laws, even when they are unfair. For Plato, justice is key to a city and means equality. To get to be fair, we must go through a process of improvement.
Aristotelian Theory
For Aristotle, a society is a natural thing since humans are sociable. For this very reason, what characterizes the human being is living in a society but looking for the common good above their own.
Modern Theories
Absolute Theory
Hobbes defined the state as a community engagement. The state tries to maintain balance, avoid social conflicts, and establish its own moral laws.
How Does the Theory of Common Good Relate to Hobbes’ Absolutist Theory?
The two theories have occurred despite two very different eras share the same base: the community’s interests are above individual interests. From here, the way you get the collective interests are totally different. So in theory, the common good is essential to respect the community, but some authors believe that respect is given by law. If we follow this last idea conceived by Thomas Aquinas, we can establish another relationship between the two thoughts is that the absolutist theory of Hobbes says it’s the state that establishes the collective interest which the law dare.
Tale of a Company
This was a world where people lived in small communities, totally independent from each other. They did not even know the existence of more distant communities. It is very curious how they were organized in communities and were independent from each other. They engaged in different jobs, and a community that was made entirely of wood was because they lived near a forest, one of the other houses were made of mud because they lived near a river and respected a lot of trees, and other houses had made stone because they lived in a mine.
Each community was small, with no more than 200 people, so everyone was clear about what they had to do, and respect was the foundation of relations between all people. In this way, there was not a single person who was on top of another, and all were equal.