what are the elements of the state?

Question

social studies....

Answer 1

A state has 3 main requirements.

Sovereignty - its ability to preserve its existence and be recognized by the world.

Stability - its ability to enforce its will on the governed without falling apart.

Support - the governed must believe in the state's existence otherwise it is just a faction or institution competing for control.


State's should not be confused with governments which are the actual institutions that a state acts through. States can technically exist as weak, uncertain, or anarchistic (Somalia, Taiwan, Haiti), but another state can rise in its place (Soviet Union breaking down into many of today's East European countries). States also shouldn't be confused with nations which are a cultural identity. Some nations which aren't states include the Islamic Nation, many Native American nations such as the Navajo, Lakota, and Sioux, the Basques in Spain, and the Kurds in Northern Iraq and Southeast Turkey.

States that have strong national identities are called nationstates and are rare to come across due to the amount of information flow and migration we see today. Many Latin American countries are not strong nationstates either due to the amount of human traffic and poor standard of living which prevents strong identities from being established. Sub-saharan Africa does not qualify here nor many Middle Eastern countries because their national borders were artificially defined from the European colonists. Surprisingly, the United States is NOT a nationstate either because we have cultures mixed from all over the world.

Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Armenia, and Iceland are excellent examples of nationstates because their ways of life are linked only to their own countries. Although their cultures may spread beyond their borders, other cultures don't insert themselves within their borders (in spite of technology). This is largely due to an extreme lack of immigration and a strong cultural loyalty (Armenia's language isn't related to any other one in the world, Iceland is extremely isolated, Japan and South Korea hold strong ethnocentric values, Switzerland has held true to its neutral reputation).

There you have it. I think I gave you a bit much for high school, but the top three characteristics are what you definitely need. Sovereignty, stability, and support.