State Online Test 11th Political Science Lesson 2 Questions in English

Political Science is the systematic study of State. We all live in State. The world is viewed as an embodiment of many States.

State as an idea or a concept is derived from a historical process of political, cultural, religious and economic contexts of a region.

The law and freedom of State are subjected to certain conditions laid by the State itself. State also ensures that our lives and property are protected.

The State is the most universal and most powerful of all social institutions. The State is a natural institution.

Aristotle said ‘Man (Human) is a social animal and by nature s/he is a political being. To him, to live in the State and to be a man were identical.

The modern term ‘state’ is derived from the word ‘status’. It was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) who first used the term ‘State’ in his writings.

The state is necessary because it comes into existence out of the basic needs of life. It continues to remain for the sake of good life. The aims, desires, and aspirations of human beings are translated into action through the State.

The three main thinkers associated with social contract theory are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jack Rousseau. The three thinkers collectively agree that humans need to be controlled by the State. At the same time, they disagree on to what extent the control can be exercised by the State on humans.

To Woodrow Wilson, “State is people organized for law within a definite territory.

Aristotle defined the State as a “union of families and villages having for its end a perfect and self – sufficing life by which it meant a happy and honorable life”. To Holland, the State is “a numerous assemblage of human beings generally occupying a certain territory amongst whom the will of the majority or class is made to prevail against any of their number who oppose it.” Burgess defines the State as “a particular portion of mankind viewed as an organized unit.”

According to Sidgwick “State is a combination or association of persons in the form of government and governed and united together into a politically organized people of a definite territory.”

Prof. Laski defines “State as a territorial society divided into government and subjects whose relationships are determined by the exercise of supreme coercive power.”

All modern States have their own Constitution that moderates the freedom and privileges of the citizens of the State with the coercive and unquestionable power of the State. Hence Constitution is considered as a limiting agent on the overwhelming authority of the State.

The Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States held in 1933 gave the fundamental understanding of State. A State must have a permanent population, a defined territory and a government that can control the territory and its people and conducts international relations with other States.

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is a treaty signed at Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933, during the Seventh International Conference of American States. The Convention codifies the declarative theory of statehood as accepted as part of customary international law. At the conference, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull declared the Good Neighbor Policy, which opposed U.S. armed intervention in inter-American affairs.

Statelessness may result from a variety of causes, including conflict of laws, the transfer of territory, marriage laws, administrative practices, discrimination, lack of birth registration, denationalization (when a State rescinds an individual's nationality), and renunciation.

The decennial Census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881.

The past-independence census in the country has been conducted once in ten years under the constitutional provisions by notification under the census Act 1948. It is the most credible source of information about demography, literacy, standards of living, urbanization, languages spoken, fertility, mortality and various other economic and sociocultural aspects of the country, which underscores its importance for any government

In the last census, operations conducted in our country in 2011, the enumerators and supervisors has focused on the house listing and housing Census. The type of information gathered on the household, its head, amenities and assets. It also includes the total number of residents, use of the census house and material used for floor, wall and roof.

It is the people who make the State. The population is essential for the State. According to Aristotle, the number should be neither too large nor too small. It should be large enough to be self –sufficient and small enough to be well governed. Rousseau determined 10,000 to be an ideal number for a State.

Ancient thinkers view on the number was based on the small city – States like Athens and Sparta. The modern States vary in population.

According to Plato, the ideal number of State is 5040. The reason is the number 5040 is divisible by numbers from 1 to 12. In the case of 11 the reminder is 2. During the time of emergency the population can be divided in various columns and instructions could be given.

People need territory to live and to organize them socially and politically. It may be remembered that the territory of the State includes land, water, and air space.

Prof. Elliott, “Territorial sovereignty or the superiority of State, overall within its boundaries and complete freedom from external control has been a fundamental principle of the modern State life”.

India has an area of 32, 87,263 sq. km. approximately India occupies 2.4% of the global area.

Government is the working agency of the State. It is the political organization of the State. Indian political scientist Prof.A. Appadurai defined government as the agency through which the will of the State is formulated, expressed and realized.

Government is a fixed structure. Political executives who get elected to offices may change but Government as a system is a permanent body of State. The State existed before the people come to power and it will exist after these men and women in power leaves the control of the State.

The fourth essential element of the State is sovereignty. The word ‘sovereignty” means supreme and final legal authority above. No legal power can exist beyond sovereignty.

The concept of “sovereignty” was developed in conjunction with the rise of the modern State. In a traditional understanding, the characteristics of sovereignty are absoluteness, permanence, universality, indivisibility, exclusiveness and inalienability.

The term Sovereignty is derived from the Latin word “superanus” which means “supreme”.

The father of the modern theory of sovereignty was Jean Bodin (1530 – 1597) a French political thinker.

Families came together under the umbrella of the community for a greater objective of security. The communities so formed made a higher level of organization called society solely to live in an organized manner where each ones’ need is met out by the collective output of the whole.

This control in modern States is done legally through a set of rules and regulations. In a democracy, these rules and regulations are framed by the legislature, enforced by the executive and the judiciary adjudicates the made laws and the implemented laws on the basis of their legality and judiciousness. The function of law making, implementing and interpreting is the function of government.

The society consists of a large number of individuals, families, groups, and institutions. The early political thinkers considered both State and society as one. The state is a part of society but is not a form of society.

The membership of the State and society are the same. But they differ as regards to their purpose. The State exists for one great but single, purpose; society exists for a number of purposes; some great and some small. The State is a single organization – legal, whereas society comprises within itself many organizations. The State exercises its control over humans by coercion and exact obedience. On the other hand, the society employs a method of voluntary action. The purpose for which society exists makes the persuasive methods necessary. The multiplicity of the organization of society gives ample opportunity to the members to relinquish one association and join another in the event they are subject to any coercion.

Government is often used with the ‘State’ as a synonym. But both the government and the State are two different entities. There are differences between the State and the government.

Modernity laid the foundations of the prioritization of individualism, freedom, equality, fostering of scientific temper in every walk of life and thus modernity led humans from agrarianism towards industrialization, urbanization, and secularization.

The rational foundation of modern State is often argued to be the treaty of Westphalia signed in the year 1648. The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties that were signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabruck and Munster. They largely ended the European wars of religion, including the Thirty Years' War.

The State should strive to keep its people secure and safe. The State should ensure that its borders are sealed and protected. The market needs to be integrated into the society by a well-knit macroeconomic structure.

Citizen first’ should be the motto of all the activities of the State. The sole principle of governance of modern State is whether the action of the State leads to the promotion of the welfare of its people.

It is largely accepted that the modern State focuses on three main functions. Security and Defense, Economic, Provision of Essential Services.

Terms like Human Security have emerged to put citizens first. Inspired by the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s idea of perpetual peace, the States of the world came together as ‘league of nations’ and later as the ‘United Nations Organization and have been debating the terms security and defense in terms of promoting peace.

Protecting consumers, weaker sections, investing in areas where there is no profit are those included in the economic functions of the modern state.

The fundamental needs such as food, clean drinking water, providing education, healthcare, and social security for the population are the responsibilities of the modern state.

The modern State strived for the welfare of its people and hence another concept came into existence called ‘Welfare State’.

Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) are mentioned in the Part 4 of the Indian constitution from articles 36 to 51. DPSPs are taken from the Constitution of the Ireland. Dr. B R Ambedkar described these principles as 'novel features' of the Constitution.

The principles have been inspired by the Directive Principles given in the Part IV of Indian Constitution of Ireland which are related to social justice, economic welfare, foreign policy, and legal and administrative matters.

It is a reality that the abundance of resources with a minimal population has been the main reason for the successful functioning of welfare State model. The Scandinavian countries are excellent examples of welfare State.

The concept of welfare State has its origin in Western Europe after the Second World War. The main idea of welfare State is that the government of welfare State plays a vital role in human development. The role of the welfare State extends to the protection and promotion of the wellbeing of its citizens.

The economic and social well-being of the citizens is based on the principle of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, Public responsibility for those who cannot afford themselves the minimal provisions for leading a good life.

India before independence was a Colonial State under British rule. Indians were subjects of the English crown. Once India attained Independence, we had our Constitution that has been deeply inspired by the western model of welfare State.

Nobel Laureate Karl Gunnar Myrdal identified what he called as societal indiscipline in the Asian States when compared to the western countries.

Societal indiscipline is the characteristics of soft State. Social indiscipline, corruption and weak law enforcement are the main characteristics of a soft State.

Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT), was amended in 2003 to The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex selection.

The post-colonial developing States are generally categorized as soft States where their institutions of governance are not fully developed. Our inability to adhere to standards and to enforce law and maintain discipline makes our country as a soft State. A soft State cannot advance further in refining its democratic values.

Hamza Alawi explains the case of the governability crisis of Pakistan and Bangladesh using the concept of Over Developed State. Overdeveloped State is an explanation offered to the in effectiveness of the functioning of post-colonial States that operate with the similar structure of bureaucratic governance before and after their independence.

The modern state is supposed to intervene in the economic functions of the political system. The State needs to support the people, make them realize their potential for their betterment.

The State gets increasingly modernized when the society and its economy are lagging behind without modernization the State and the society grossly mismatched each other. This creates a divide between the people and the State’s apparatus.

In the case of Pakistan and Bangladesh, Hamza Alawai coins the word ‘military bureaucracy oligarchy’ that is similar to the license raj of India and over-centralization as a continuation of colonial legacy that has been constantly addressed by the government of India.

Post-colonial State is the name of new nation States that have emerged out of the process of decolonization after the Second World War. Post-colonial State is used synonymously with developmental State.

In general, post-colonial States exhibit a high degree of poverty, political instability and the crisis of governance. The mismatch between the society with its traditional power structure overlapping with modern States has largely resulted in such a situation.

It is obvious that the Colonial powers that ventured into newer worlds destroyed the main parts of native traditions and cultures and further constantly replaced them with their own ones. This cultural import led to conflicts as and when they became independent as they suddenly faced the challenge of developing a new national identity and self-confidence.

According to the Indian Constitution Part IV does not trigger enforceable rights but the free legal aid has been upheld by the Supreme Court as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution.

An asylum seeker is someone who is seeking international protection but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been determined. In contrast, a refugee is someone who has been recognized under the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees to be a refugee. The definition of ‘refugee’ does not cover other individuals or groups of people who leave their country only because of war or other civil disturbance, famine, natural disasters or in order to seek a better life.

The Preamble proclaims that India is a Sovereign State. 'Sovereign' means that India has its own independent authority and it is not a dominion or dependent state of any other external power. The Legislature of India has the powers to enact laws in the country subject to certain limitations imposed by the Constitution.

Under the breakdown of the constitutional machinery of any state can impose constitutional emergency. Article 356 deals with Constitutional emergency. This situation arises when a situation in a state reaches to a place, that it can no longer rule according to the provisions of the constitution.

Sovereign means the independent authority of a State. It means that it has the power to legislate on any subject; and that it is not subject to the control of any other State / external power. According to the preamble, the constitution of India has been pursuance of the solemn resolution of the people of India to constitute India into a ‘Sovereign Democratic Republic’, and to secure well-defined objects set forth in the preamble. Sovereignty denotes supreme and ultimate power. It may be real or normal, legal or political, individual or pluralistic. In republican form of governments, which mostly prevail in the contemporary world, sovereignty is shifted to the elected representatives of the people.

The past-independence census in the country has been conducted once in ten years under the constitutional provisions by notification under the census Act 1948. It is the most credible source of information about demography, literacy, standards of living, urbanization, languages spoken, fertility, mortality and various other economic and sociocultural aspects of the country, which underscores its importance for any government

The noon meal scheme and the nutrition’s meal schemes in all Government schools initiated by the Government of Tamil Nadu and adopted in different parts of the country is one such example of the welfare state. The Nutritious Meal program was introduced in Tamil Nadu in the year 1982.