Definition: State

A territorial social circle whose social order is embedded in institutions that claim the authority to establish collectively binding rules within the territory and, where necessary, to enforce them by means of coercion regarded as legitimate and exclusive.

• Explanation.
  • The state is therefore not understood as a single institution, but as a particular territorial social circle whose social order is embedded in largely formal institutions. The definition describes this position without implying any normative judgement about its desirability or justice.
  • The authority to establish and enforce collectively binding rules need not rest with a single institution or at a single level of government within a state. It may be distributed territorially and functionally among different institutions and subordinate territorial social circles. These competences may differ according to territory, policy field, type of decision and mode of enforcement. The distribution, delimitation and interrelationship of these competences are themselves part of the institutionalised social order of the state.
  • A state may also form part of broader political arrangements in which certain competences for collectively binding decision-making are vested in institutions outside or above the state itself. Such relationships are likewise regulated through institutions. Which competences are exercised at which level, or by which institutions, may therefore change over time and may themselves become the object of political struggle and social change.
  • According to the theory, the durable power of a state does not rest solely on its capacity to enforce compliance through coercion. Through civilising and through the legitimating and reproductive civilising loops, the legitimacy of the state, its institutions and the distribution of competences embedded within them may become part of personal and social-circle civilisations. To the extent that individuals recognise this legitimacy and act in accordance with the associated roles, rules and expectations, they themselves contribute to the social functioning and reproduction of the state order.