The state is a historical phenomenon. Initially, in primitive society there was no state, let alone any political system. There was no need for this. Problems that arose, including contradictions between members of society, were resolved, as a rule, by the power of the authority of leaders, public opinion, habits, and more often by brute force. However, the further development of society, one hundred complication, began to increasingly require the creation of a certain mechanism for the adequate and unambiguous resolution of disputes and the conduct of so-called common affairs (for example, protection from external enemies, protection of nascent property). The implementation of these functions without specially created for this management became impossible.
At the same time, a differentiation of the social structure took place in society, which accelerated with the advent of the social division of labor. New social groups (strata, classes) emerged with their own specific needs and interests. There was private property. As a result, an urgent need arose to create an effective mechanism for the relationship between various social groups, as well as to protect private and collective property.
These and a number of other circumstances were the reasons for the emergence of a regulatory and protective structure of society, called the "state".
Often the state is understood in the broadest sense of the word as a community of people united common interests and power and living in a certain territory. In this sense, the concept of "state" is identical to the concepts of "society", "country" (France, Germany, Russia, etc.). In the context of the political system, the state is considered in the narrow sense of the word as the main subject of exercising power in society.
State there is the main institution of the political system of society, which manages society, protects its political and social structure on the basis of law with the help of a special mechanism (apparatus).
Why is the state main institution of the political system of society, and not the church, political parties or public organizations? This is due to a number of reasons. Society delegates to the state (represented by its bodies) the main power functions and powers. The main levers of influence on society (economic, political, military, etc.) are concentrated in the hands of the state "it has full power in a certain territory. The state has the exclusive right to issue laws and other regulations that are mandatory for all citizens and other subjects on its territory, which no other political institution of society can afford.Only the state is given the right to the legal use of force, including the right to physical coercion.
Signs and functions of the state
Among main features states are as follows:
- Availability special system of organs and institutions (representative, executive, judicial), exercising the functions of state power;
- Availability rights , norm systems sanctioned by the state (laws and other normative legal acts), binding on all subjects of society;
- certain territory which is subject to the authority and jurisdiction (laws) of this state;
- the exclusive right to establish and collect taxes and fees from the population.
Determining the features of the state has not only theoretical, but also important practical meaning. For example, only the presence of signs recognized by international law allows a state to be considered a subject of international law with appropriate powers.
Both the state itself and its functions (that is, the directions of its activity) did not remain unchanged in history and changed with the development of society. However, a number of functions remain practically constant and take place in any state. Thus, the state function of protecting society from external encroachments has always remained unchanged.
In most modern states, there are two types state functions in accordance with the place of their implementation - internal and external. Internal functions: economic, social, cultural and educational, legal (protection of the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, prevention social conflicts). V scientific literature there are a variety of classifications of the internal functions of the state. In addition to the functions listed above, they also include environmental, protection of the constitutional order, etc. But, as a rule, all of them are absorbed to one degree or another by the functions listed above.
External functions: protection of society from external enemies, development of civilizational relations with other states.
The state performs its functions through the system of state bodies, through the state apparatus. For more efficient performance of functions in the state, a system has been formed separation of powers. The most common today in the world is the division of powers into representative (legislative), executive and judicial. Sometimes, especially in recent times, there is also a fourth power - MEDIA. However, legally, this is not entirely correct; it is correct to speak about their power functions only in a conditional, figurative sense. The media are not included directly in the structure of state bodies. Their influence is not expressed directly through their decisions, laws, regulations, real actions, as is the case among the three branches of government named above. The opinion of the press or electronic media is not legally binding. However, the power of the media lies in a strong psychological and moral impact on society, on the minds of people, and in providing a significant (not always direct, but sometimes very effective) influence on other branches of government and on public opinion.
State evolution
What are the prospects for the further existence and development of the state? This question has long occupied the minds of scientists and all people interested in politics. Some tend to predict the disappearance of the state in a historical perspective. In particular, Marxism presupposes the transition of society in the future to a certain ideal state (communism) without its stratification into classes, without private property, in the absence of any serious contradictions between homogeneous social actors. According to Marx (see "Critique of the "Gott Program""), as a result of such an evolution, the state as a protective and regulating institution of society will gradually die out in a natural way as unnecessary. Its functions such as regulation of relations between social subjects (society will be socially homogeneous) and protection of private property (it will disappear, will be canceled) will become unnecessary.
However, historical reality turned out to be clearly more "conservative" than the futuristic forecasts of the ideologists of universal equality. As practice shows, the social structure of society is by no means simplified. On the contrary, there is an increasing differentiation of society, the number of tasks requiring the intervention of state and public structures is increasing. Far from the disappearance of private property. Attempts to directly attack it (in the USSR and a number of other countries) were unsuccessful. In addition, the presence of not only private, but also other forms of ownership implies the need for state regulation of relations between its owners on the basis of law, as well as the protection of this right by the state.
With the complication of the material and spiritual life of society, the role of the state is steadily increasing. The number of problems that require constant regulation by state structures is increasing, for example, problems of ecology and health care. So it is clearly too early to bury the main functions of the authorities, and therefore, to talk about the withering away of the state.
Topic 6. THE STATE AS THE MAIN INSTITUTION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Origin and essence of the state.
The main features and functions of the state.
Types and forms of the state.
Rule of law and civil society.
Development of the rule of law and civil society in the Republic of Belarus.
1. State - the main institution of the political system, a set of interrelated institutions and organizations that manage society. Using it, the government organizes, directs and controls the joint activities and relations of individuals, social groups and classes.
The forerunners of the state were various forms of social self-regulation and self-organization of people - traditions, norms, customs, clan and tribal formations, characteristic of the primitive communal system.
The state appeared as a result of the decomposition of the tribal system under the influence of such factors as:
the development of the social division of labor and the allocation of managerial labor into a special branch;
the emergence of private property and the need to create specific norms, rules and structures governing property relations;
the need for armed force in order to preserve or increase territory, property, etc.;
demographic factors, changes in the reproduction of the person himself: an increase in the number and density of the population, the transition to a settled way of life, the need of society to streamline marital relations;
social human nature, manifested in the desire for certain forms of hostel (family, state). Aristotle noted that man is a highly collective being and can realize himself only within the framework of certain forms of communication.
At first, state-policies arose in ancient Greece and Rome. Then military-feudal states were formed in Europe. They were replaced by national states. In the history of social thought, the following approaches to the question of the origin of the state have developed.
Theocratic concepts associate the emergence of the state with God's establishment. They are characteristic of Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Patriarchal concept considers the state as a product of a family that has grown to the size of the state, while the power of the ruler is interpreted as the power of the father in the family, and the relationship between subjects and rulers is like family relations.
Contractual concept, developed by T. Hobbes, J. Locke and J.-J. Rousseau, derived the state from an agreement between rulers and subjects, concluded in order to ensure order and organization of public life.
Psychological theory proceeds from the fact that the state exists due to the presence of a person's psychological needs to live within an organized community or due to the propensity of the majority to obey.
conquest theory, created in the 19th century. L. Gumplonich, explained the emergence of the state by the conquest of the weak in socio-economic terms and the warlike peoples of the underdeveloped.
Race concept relies on the postulate that there are superior and inferior races, and the state is necessary to ensure the dominance of the former over the latter.
organic concept draws an analogy between the state and a living organism both in structure and in functions. Violation of this harmony leads to illness of the whole organism and even to its death.
Irrigation concept connects the origin of the state with the need to build large irrigation facilities.
Sports concept prints the genesis of the state from the spread of sports, the system of physical education in Sparta, which contributed to the emergence of a strong army and state.
Socio-economic concept explains the emergence of the state by social and property differentiation, the emergence of private property and classes, the irreconcilability of class contradictions, the social division of labor and the need of the economically dominant class to ensure political domination.
2. The state has the following distinguishing features and attributes :
Territory- this is the physical, material basis of the state, the space to which its jurisdiction extends.
population - it is a set of people living in the territory of a given state and subject to its authority.
public authority- having a special systems of organs and institutions those implementing the functions of state power (government, bureaucracy);
sovereignty, i.e., the supremacy and independence of state power within the country and in external affairs;
monopoly on compulsion and relevant authorities for the exercise of this right (army, police, security services, court);
monopoly on issuing laws and legal acts binding on the entire population;
monopoly on collection of taxes and formation of the national budget, money issue.
State functions
TO internal relate:
the function of protecting the existing political system, economic and social system, human rights;
economic and organizational function, regulation of the economy;
cultural and educational function.
ensuring law and order
External features:
protection of state sovereignty and the territory of the country from external encroachment
ensuring business partnership and cooperation, protecting its interests in the international arena, participation in the international division of labor
maintenance of peace and peaceful coexistence.
These functions naturally follow from the internal ones and are their continuation; however, they, in turn, affect internal functions.
To carry out all these functions state machinery usually includes the following elements:
1. The bodies of legislative power that receive legitimation as a result of elections are parliaments, local representative bodies of power and self-government;
2. executive and administrative bodies that directly manage state affairs are the government and local executive authorities;
3. bodies of the judiciary, prosecutors, public order and security, armed strength.
3. Types and formsstates
Under historical type is understood as the totality of the main, most important features of the state of a certain OEF. Each mode of production has its own type: slave-owning (in 2 versions - Asian and ancient), feudal, bourgeois and socialist.
States are traditionally classified according to three criteria - forms of government, forms of territorial structure and forms of political regime. Under form of government is understood as the organization of the supreme state power, the system of relations of its bodies with each other and with the population. Form state structure reflects the territorial structure of the state, the nature of the relationship between central, regional and local authorities.
Forms of government:
In the monarchy source of power is one person - the monarch (king, emperor, king, shah, etc.), and power is hereditary.
Monarchies There are two types - absolute and limited, constitutional.
Absolute monarchy characterized by the omnipotence of the head of state and is not limited by constitutional institutions. The government is appointed by the monarch and is responsible to him. Absolute monarchies prevailed in the past, and now they have survived only in some countries of the Middle East - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
Most monarchies - limited, constitutional. In them, the powers of the monarch are strictly limited by legislative systems. The power of the monarch in constitutional monarchies does not extend to the sphere of legislative activity and is limited in the sphere of administration. Laws are passed by Parliament; and the right of veto, if it exists, is practically not used by monarchs. Depending on the degree of such restriction, parliament distinguishes:
dualistic(dual) monarchy (Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait), in which the powers of the head of state are limited in the sphere of legislation, but rather broad in the sphere of executive power. The monarch has the right to appoint a government that is responsible to him.
parliamentary. The power of the head of state practically does not extend to the sphere of legislation and is significantly limited in the sphere of executive power. The government is formed on the basis of a parliamentary majority and is responsible not to the monarch, but to the parliament. It exercises real control over the country, and the prime minister is the actual head of state. All orders (decrees) issued by the monarch acquire legal force only after confirmation by the head of government. The government is responsible for their implementation. Thus, the monarch reigns, but does not rule (Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Japan, etc.).
The institution of the monarchy in many countries (especially European ones) is preserved only because it embodies the unity of the nation and the inviolability of its political systems. Monarchies provide continuity in political development, are guardians of traditions
However, the most common in modern world form of government republics (from lat. res - business and publika - public). The source of power in them is the popular majority, the highest authorities are elected by citizens.
Depending on who forms the government, to whom it is accountable and controlled, the republics are divided into three types: parliamentary, presidential and mixed (semi-presidential).
main feature parliamentary republic - the formation of the government by the parties that won the elections. The government is responsible to parliament. The government headed by the prime minister plays a paramount role in political life. The prime minister is the first person in the state. The president is the head of state, but performs mainly representative functions.
Parliamentary republics exist in such countries as Italy, Germany, Greece, Switzerland. India and Australia. They are distinguished by frequent change of governments and early parliamentary elections.
V presidential republic the head of state simultaneously acts as head of government (executive power). He appoints a government that is not accountable to parliament. Parliament and the President are independent in their relations. The President is elected by the people and is not responsible to Parliament. The President directs the armed forces and the administration. Parliament does not have the right to dismiss the government, although the president does not have the right to dissolve parliament.
The third main variety of the republic is semi-presidential republic , or mixed , combining the features of presidential and parliamentary republics. It exists in Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Poland, Finland, France, Bulgaria and some other countries. Its main characteristic feature is the double responsibility of the government: to the president and to the parliament.
By national-territorial structure states are divided into:
unitary state are distinguished by a single constitution recognized throughout the territory, a single citizenship, a single system of law and a judicial system, and the lack of independence of administrative-territorial units. (France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Belarus, Estonia, etc.)
Federation differs from a unitary state in that its constituent territorial units (states, provinces, cantons, republics) are subjects of state sovereignty. This is a stable union of states that are independent within the limits of competences distributed between them and the center and have their own authorities.
The current federations include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, the USA, Germany, and Switzerland. States in the USA, lands in Austria and Germany, cantons in Switzerland, provinces in Canada.
Practice has shown that federations created according to the territorial principle (USA, Mexico, Germany, Austria) turned out to be more viable than federations created according to the national-territorial principle (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia).
There are other associations of states. First, this confederation - a temporary union of independent states for the implementation of specific joint goals (military, economic). Its members transfer to the competence of the union the solution of a limited range of issues, most often in the field of military, foreign policy, transport and communications, and the monetary system. There is an association of states in which elements of a confederation are visible - the European Union. It has supranational bodies with considerable powers, policy is coordinated, and there is a common economic space.
4. Rule of law and civil society
The concept of the rule of law of the state has deep historical and theoretical roots. The idea of the rule of law, the rule of law in the life of society, was expressed in antiquity. Plato emphasized: “I see the near death of that state where the law has no force and is under someone else’s power. Where the law is the master of the rulers, and they are its slaves, I consider the salvation of the state and all the blessings that can bestow gods on states.
The theory of the rule of law in its holistic form was developed by D. Locke, C. Montesquieu, T. Jefferson, I. Kant and other representatives of liberalism. The very term "rule of law" was established in the 19th century in the works of German lawyers K.T. Welker, R. von Mol and others. A significant contribution to the development of the rule of law was made by Russian thinkers A. Radishchev, A. Herzen, N. Dobrolyubov; legal scholars B. Chicherin, S. Kotlyarevsky, P. Novgorodtsev, B. Kistyakovsky. Significant milestones on the way to the rule of law were the US Constitution of 1787 and the French Constitution of 1789, which for the first time consolidated some provisions of the legal statehood.
Constitutional state - it is a state limited in its actions by the law that protects the freedom of the individual and subordinates power to the will of the sovereign people.
Law is a system of universally recognized, formally defined, state-guaranteed norms. those. rules of conduct of a general nature, acting as a regulator of social relations. Law is a means of organizing state power. Through legal norms, the state performs the necessary functions, makes its decrees obligatory for the entire population.
In a constitutional state, there is a regime of constitutional government, there is a developed and consistent legal system with effective control of politics and power. The implementation of the domestic and foreign policy of the state, the activities of its bodies, officials are bound by legal norms and are subordinate to them. The concept of the rule of law justifies the legal equality of all citizens, the priority of human rights over the laws of the state, non-interference of the state in the affairs of civil society.
Distinctive features of the rule of law:
sovereignty of the people. This means that it is the people who are the ultimate source of power; state sovereignty is representative.
Law supremacy. The laws of the rule of law are based on the Constitution of the country and have the highest binding force in comparison with all other normative acts issued by state bodies. The law cannot be repealed or changed either by departmental acts, or by government orders, or by party decisions. This raises the question of the quality of the law itself. In a truly democratic state of law, the law must comply with the law, be humane, fair, progressive, and secure the inalienable rights of a person.
Universality of law, bound by the law of the state itself and his organs. The state that made the law has no right to violate it itself. All state bodies and officials act strictly on the basis of and in pursuance of laws, within the limits of their competence and in the manner prescribed by legal norms.
Mutual responsibility states and individuals. Not only a citizen, individual organizations and institutions are responsible to the state for the performance of their duties, but also the state, its officials are responsible for their actions to citizens.
Separation of powers. Power must be dispersed, to avoid despotism, between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. The principle of separation of powers requires autonomy, independence, strict delimitation of the competencies of these three authorities, the existence of a system of checks and balances, with the help of which each branch of power could limit the other. The principle of separation of powers does not exclude, but presupposes the unity and interaction of authorities, as well as a certain supremacy of the legislative power, the constitutional decisions of which are binding on all.
The inviolability of the freedom of the individual, his rights, honor and dignity. The rule of law proceeds from the fact that human rights and freedoms are inalienable and belong to him from birth; rights and freedoms are equally granted to everyone; the exercise of human and civil rights and freedoms must not violate the rights and freedoms of other persons; the catalog of human and civil rights and freedoms must comply with international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966.
Availability of effective forms of control and supervision for the observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens, the implementation of laws and other regulations, a flexible mechanism for guaranteeing the freedom of expression of the people's will. The rule of law is called upon to create a developed and efficient system of judiciary, arbitration, people's (state) control, etc.
Civil society - it is a system of independent public institutions and relations independent of the state, which are designed to provide conditions for the self-realization of individuals and groups, the reaction of private interests and needs.
Civil society has a complex structure and includes economic, spiritual, moral, religious, ethnic, family and other relations and institutions not mediated by the state. It covers the production and private life of people, their traditions, customs, education, science, culture, which are outside the direct activities of the state.
The interests and needs of various groups and individuals are expressed and implemented through such civil society institutions as a family, church, political parties, professional, creative associations, cooperatives, social movements, bodies of public initiative, etc. Thus, civil society implies a variety of teams, territorial communities, cultural, national communities, i.e. a plurality of social subjects relatively independent of the state and capable of self-organization.
In civil society, in contrast to state structures, not vertical (subordination), but horizontal ties prevail - relations of competition and solidarity between free and equal partners.
Basis civil society is a multistructural market economy, pluralism of forms of ownership, independence of business entities, providing a broad business initiative to citizens.
An important condition for the functioning of civil society is also the presence of a developed social structure and the diversity of different groups of layers. Socialial basis gra Civil society is the so-called middle class, which includes the most active and mobile part of the population.
Spiritual the sphere of civil society implies pluralism in the field of ideology, real freedom of speech, press, conscience, a fairly high level of social, intellectual, psychological development of the individual.
In modern conditions, it is difficult to draw a clear line between civil society and the state. However, such a division is necessary for the timely prevention of etatist totalitarian tendencies, ensuring the sovereignty of the people, the freedom of the individual. The state should manage society, but not completely subordinate it to itself. Society should live its full life, but not ignore the state. The border of interaction should be established by a law that does not allow them to absorb each other.
welfare state is a state striving to ensure decent living conditions for citizens, satisfying their material and spiritual needs, and social security. This is achieved through the redistribution of national income in favor of the less well-off strata, the implementation of an employment policy, labor protection, the development of public education, health care, etc.
1. The state is the main political institution, the reasons for it
occurrence.
2. Essence, signs and functions of the state.
3. Forms of government.
4. Forms of government.
5. Legal state: concept and features.
6. The concept and essence of civil society.
The state is the main political institution, the reasons for its emergence.
Political institutions - it is a set of organizational forms and norms in politics that unite citizens, express their collective will, values and interests, and regulate social relations. Such institutions are the state and its bodies, political parties and public associations.
The state is the main, universal political institution that directly controls society. Its bodies pass laws (legislative branch), implement laws and other political decisions (executive branch), settle disputes (judicial branch), punish violators of generally accepted rules (coercive institutions).
The state is the central institution of power in society and the concentrated implementation of policy by this power.
The state arose as a natural, objective result natural development society at a certain stage of its maturity. The state stood out from society in the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system under the influence of a number of reasons and factors. The main ones are:
· deep social division of labor , the allocation of management in order to improve its efficiency in a special branch of public activity. With the development of productive forces, the expansion of economic and other ties, the enlargement of human communities, society has a need to strengthen managerial functions and concentrate them on certain individuals and bodies;
· emergence in the course of the development of social production of private property, classes and exploitation . The state appears as a result of the irreconcilability of class interests, as a political organization of the economically dominant class and as an instrument for its suppression of other classes and strata. This position is most fully represented in Marxism. The state, - considered V.I. Lenin, - is " a machine for oppressing one class by another, a machine for keeping other subordinate classes in subjection to one class".
Non-Marxist scientific directions do not absolutize the role of private property and classes. It is known that in some cases the formation of the state historically preceded and contributed to the class stratification of society. During community development as class antagonisms are erased and society is democratized, the state becomes more and more a supra-class, national organization.
Political theory, along with class reasons, highlights other reasons for the emergence of the state:
· demographic factors , changes in the reproduction of the man himself. With the growth in the number and density of the population, there was a transition of peoples from a nomadic to a settled way of life, a ban on incest and streamlining of marriage relations. All this increased the need of society to regulate the relationship between people living in a certain territory;
· anthropological factors . Representatives of anthropological concepts believe that the state form of organization is rooted in the very social nature of man. Even Aristotle wrote that man, as a highly collective being, can realize himself only within the framework of certain forms of communication. The state, like the family and the village, is a natural, organically inherent in humanity at a certain stage of development, the highest form of community life;
· psychological, rational and emotional factors . The state is considered as a fruit of the human mind, ripened under the influence of certain human needs and emotions. This point of view is typical, in particular, for contractual (contractual) theories of the state. According to T. Hobbes, the strongest motive that encourages people to conclude a social contract on the creation of a state is the fear of aggression from other people, fear for life, freedom and property. D. Locke puts the human mind in the forefront, the belief that the state is better able to ensure the natural rights of a person than traditional forms before the state hostel.
Obviously, the real state arose in the course of a long natural-historical development of society, and not as a result of the signing of a social contract. But for its time, the contractual concepts of the state were of progressive importance, posing problems of the relationship between the individual, society and the state;
· conquest of one people by another . An important role in the emergence of the state was given to this factor by supporters of theories of violence– L. Gumplovich, F. Oppenheimer and others. According to them, the state arises as a result of external conquests and political violence, which aggravates social inequality, leads to the formation of classes and exploitation.
In political science, there are other factors that influence the formation of the state - geographical, ethnic, etc. Thus, the emergence of statehood is due to many reasons, among which it is hardly possible to single out any one as decisive. The state arises, exists and develops as a result of the complication of the economic and social life, a form of satisfying the needs for streamlining, regulating and managing public affairs.
Essence, signs and functions of the state.
The theory of the state identifies a triune basis for the origin, formation and existence of the state: social, class, political and legal or organizational and structural Depending on the basis three approaches to the study of the state:
1) political-philosophical in which the state is viewed as a universal organization designed to ensure the unity and integrity of society, the solution of society's problems, the regulation of relations between the authorities and the people;
2) class , according to which the state is a product of the division of society into classes and an instrument of class struggle;
3) political-legal or organizational-structural approach , exploring the state as a source of law and law, organizing the life of society and the activities of the state itself and its structures in the system of political relations.
These approaches do not exclude each other and in their totality help to reveal the essence and specifics of the state as a political institution. Based on the foregoing, the following definition of the state can be given:
The state is a historically conditioned, separated from society, determined (predetermined) by its economic system the class organization, which exercises sovereign power with the help of a special apparatus, protects these social relations, acting as the official representative of the whole society.
State signs. The main elements of the state are: territory, population, public authority.
1. State territory constitutes the physical, material basis of the state. The territory of the state is the space to which its jurisdiction extends. This is not only land, but also subsoil, water and air spaces. The territory as a sign of the state is inseparable, inviolable, exclusive (on the territory of the state the power of only this state dominates), inalienable (a state that has lost its territory ceases to be a state).
2. State population is the total number of people living in a given area. Despite the existing social differences, the population of the country constitutes a single community, the people acting as the source and bearer of power in the state. The permanent population of a given territory, as a rule, has a stable connection with the state in the form of citizenship or citizenship and enjoys its protection within the country and abroad.
3. public authority is an important attribute of the state, separated from society. Such power is personified in the form of a special layer of people professionally involved in management. The implementation of public power requires a certain organization - the formation of a special state apparatus and equipment with material and technical means.
The hallmarks of the state among other socio-political formations are also:
4. Sovereignty , that is, the supremacy of state power within the country and independence outside. The state has the highest and unlimited power in a given territory, it determines what its relations with other states will be, and the latter have no right to interfere in its internal affairs. The state has sovereignty regardless of the size of the territory, population, political regime. Sovereignty is not synonymous with absolute independence or isolation. State sovereignty is a formal legal norm, but is not considered an unconditional political norm, because. in practice, it can be limited to real relations within the country and in the international arena.
5. Monopoly right to use coercion . Possessing the exclusive right to legal or institutionalized violence, the state has the necessary organs (army, police, security services, courts) and means (weapons, other resources) for this.
6. Monopoly right to legislate and legal acts binding on the entire population.
7. Monopoly right to levy taxes and fees from the public. Taxes are necessary for material security state activity and content of the administration.
State functions. The place and role of the state in the political system of society is largely determined by its functions. Functions reflect the main activities of the state, due to its essence. It is generally accepted that the functions of the state are divided into internal and external. Internal functions include:
political function– exercising power and maintaining the political stability of society, implementing a political course approved by citizens.
legal function- Establishment of legal norms, maintenance of law and order in society.
Organizing function- ensuring the interaction of all parts of the social system.
economic function – stimulation and regulation of economic activity.
social function– satisfaction of the material and spiritual needs of citizens, regulation of social relations, humanization of the social environment.
Cultural and ideological function- introduction into the consciousness of citizens of spiritual values that integrate society, protection and enrichment of the historical and cultural heritage of society, improving the conditions for the socialization of citizens.
External functions states are:
protection of the interests of this state in the international arena;
Ensuring the defense of the country;
· development of mutually beneficial cooperation and integration with other countries;
participation in the international division of labor.
External functions follow from internal and are their continuation, however, they have the opposite effect on internal functions.
The state is the main instrument of political power in society, the central element of its political system, a means of establishing and maintaining public order, coordinating the interests of various segments of the population.
The term "state" entered politics and science from the middle of the 16th - 17th centuries. They began to designate state formations, which were previously called "principalities", "kingdoms", "empires", "republics", etc. By the beginning of the XVIII century. the concept of "state" spread throughout Europe and became firmly established in political practice.
State - this is the main institution of the political system of society, which extends its power to the entire territory and citizens of the country, has a public authority apparatus for this, has sovereignty and is designed to ensure the realization of the interests and needs of citizens, social groups and layers .
State - a special form of organization of political power in society, which has sovereignty, a monopoly on the use of legalized violence and manages society with the help of a special mechanism (apparatus ).
There are several origin concepts , nature and social purpose of the state.
1. Theological concept , according to which the state is interpreted as a sacred and inviolable institution created by God to organize people's lives. The subordination of people to the will of God, the principles of the divine mind ensures order in society, self-preservation and the continuation of the human race.
2. Patriarchal concept interprets state power as guardian, paternal, formed as a result of the union of clans into tribes, tribes in a community. The state is interpreted as a large family, in which the relationship between the monarch and his subjects is identified with the relationship between the father and family members. The concept received a theoretical justification in one of the works of the English thinker of the 17th century. R. Filmer, who considered the state as a continuation of paternal guardianship in the family, carried out for the common good.
3. Contractual theories of the origin of the state took shape in the 17th and 18th centuries. in the works of J. Locke, T. Hobbes, J.J. Rousseau and others. In accordance with them, the emergence of the state is the result of a kind of agreement between individuals in order to ensure the rule of law, guaranteeing the use of natural rights and property. The attributes of power are voluntarily transferred to a sovereign monarch or other state institution.
4. Socio-economic (Marxist) concept (authors K. Marx, F. Engels, V. Lenin), according to which the state is a political machine for the ruling classes to suppress the working masses. The state arises along with the division of society into classes and the growth of class antagonisms.
5. Theory of "violence" or "capture" . A significant contribution to its substantiation and development was made by E. Dühring, L. Gumplovich, and K. Kautsky. At the heart of the emergence of the state, they believed, was an act of violence, the conquest of one people by another, stronger and more organized. To consolidate the power of the winner, a state is created.
This process was influenced by a wide variety of internal and external factors: the increase in surplus product, the improvement of technology, geographical conditions, ethnic relations, population growth, ecology, war and conquest, external influence and trade, the ideological factor, and many others.
27. Signs, essence and functions of the state The modern state has a number of characteristic features, the most important of which are recognized by the world community and are used by it as criteria for recognizing individual states as subjects of international relations with certain rights and obligations. These criteria are four essential elements states:
1 . Territory it is the physical, material basis of the state. As a sign of the state territory: inseparable ; inviolable (this finds its expression in the principle of non-interference of public authority in the affairs of another state); exceptional (on the territory of the state, the power of only this state dominates); inalienable (a state that has lost its territory ceases to be a state).
2 . Population (people) as a constituent element of the state - there is a human community living on the territory of this state and subject to its authority. The integrity of the people , i.e. the general subordination of the population to the existing government is the most important condition for the stability of the state. The split of the population along social-class, ethnic, religious and other grounds poses a serious threat to the existence of the state. The integrity of society and the interconnection of its members ensures citizenship institution (subordination). It is in the presence of the institution of citizenship that the essence of the state is expressed for an individual.
3. Sovereign power is the defining element of the state. Sovereignty (from lat. super - over) - supremacy independent of any forces, circumstances and persons. State power is sovereign, i.e. has supremacy within the country and independence in relations with other states.
Being sovereign, state power: universal , applies to the entire population, public, political and other organizations; has the prerogative to abolish any manifestation of all other public authorities ; has the right to legitimate violence through the use of exceptional means of influence (army, police, prisons, etc.).
4. Presence of public authorities. The state is a special organization public political authority , which has a special mechanism, a system of bodies and institutions that manage society. The mechanism of the state is presented institutions of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government .
The state as the most important social institution has a number of exclusive rights :
The right to issue laws that are binding on the population;
The right to use special means of influencing the population (the legitimate apparatus of coercion and violence);
The right to enforce the collection of taxes and other obligatory payments that ensure its economic independence
State functions. The state belongs to the most stable structure of the political organization of society, is its basis due to the fact that it performs a number of functions that are different from the activities of other subjects of the political system.
State functions – these are duties, range of activities, appointment, role in the most concentrated, generalized form. In the modern political world, one can generalize and classify the functions of the state as follows: INTERNAL FUNCTIONS : political function
political function the state consists in ensuring political stability, exercising power, developing program and strategic goals and objectives for the development of society. economic function the state is expressed in the organization, coordination, regulation of economic processes with the help of tax and credit policies, creating incentives for economic growth and the implementation of sanctions to ensure macroeconomic stability.
social function The state manifests itself in caring for a person as a member of society and consists in meeting the needs of people in housing, work, health care, education, and support for socially unprotected groups of the population. Organizing function consists in streamlining all power activities: making, organizing and executing decisions, forming and using managers, monitoring the implementation of laws, coordinating the activities of various subjects of the political system. legal function includes the maintenance of law and order, the establishment of legal norms regulating social relations and the behavior of citizens.
EXTERNAL: Defense function - protection of the inviolability of the borders and territory of the country, ensuring non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.
Diplomatic function: implemented in the maintenance and development of interstate relations, as well as the implementation foreign trade, participation in international organizations.
28. Forms of government The state is a special form of organization of political power, which has a certain structure. The organization, structure and implementation of state power reflects the concept "form of state" .
The form of the state as a set of external features of the state includes three elements: form of government, form of government, political regime.
Form of government - a way of organizing the territorial-administrative and political unity of the state, which determines the features of the relationship between its regional constituent parts, as well as each individual of them with a central authority.
The main forms of government are:
1. Unitary state(from French unitare - unity). This form of government is characterized by a high degree of centralization of political power. It has the greatest distribution in the world (Belarus, Finland, France, Spain, Great Britain). A unitary state is characterized by:
A single constitution, the norms of which apply throughout the country;
one system the highest bodies of state power;
Single citizenship;
Centralized judicial and legal system;
The territory of a unitary state is subdivided into administrative-territorial units (departments, regions, districts, etc.), who do not have political independence, their activities are subordinated and controlled by the central national authority.
2. Federation(from lat. foederatio - union, association). A federation is a union state consisting of autonomous state entities ( subjects of the federation ), having legal and certain political autonomy. Federation is a fairly common form of government (Russia, USA, Canada, India, Australia, Brazil). The unifying principles of the federation are:
Single socio-economic space;
Unified monetary system;
federal citizenship;
federal constitution;
Federal authorities and administration.
Specific features of the subjects of the federation:
Along with federal citizenship, there is citizenship of individual subjects (states, republics, lands);
The subjects of the federation may have their own constitutions and legal system, autonomous legislative and executive bodies authorities;
Special relations are established between the federation and its subjects, in which the principle of the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the federation operates;
The subjects of the federation have direct representation in the country's parliament, ensured by the existence of a second chamber (for example, in Russia this function is performed by the Federation Council, in the USA - by the Senate, in Germany - by the Bundesrat) .
Confederation(from lat. confoederatio - union). This form of government is a union of sovereign states created to achieve some common, mainly foreign policy, goals. Each member of the confederation, while maintaining full state independence and uniting with other states in a voluntary union, delegates a strictly limited range of powers to the center. To implement a coordinated policy, the states that are part of the confederation create one or more special bodies and official posts. Decisions are taken by consensus and come into force only after approval by the central authorities of the respective states. There is no unified tax and legal system.
Confederate unions, as a rule, either precede the formation of federations, or break up into a number of sovereign states when the goal of association has been achieved or has lost its relevance. An example of a confederation in the past is the USA (1776-1787), Switzerland (1815-1848), the German Union (1815-1867). Some features of the confederation can now be traced in the European Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), formed after the collapse of the USSR as part of 12 states.
Similar information.
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Federal Agency for Education GOU VPO
All-Russian Correspondence Institute of Finance and Economics
Department of Philosophy
Test
in political science
The state as the main institution of the political system
(Option-20)
Barnaul - 2009
state legal injustice
Introduction
Essence, main features and functions of the state. Causes and conditions of its occurrence
Forms of government and forms of government. The concept of the rule of law
One of the medieval philosophers noted that the state is a body designed to stop any injustice, except for the one "which it creates itself." In modern states, many means have been invented to prevent injustice perpetrated by the state itself. List these tools and briefly describe them.
Conclusion
List of used literature
Introduction
The presented work is devoted to the topic "The state as the main institution of the political system".
The problem of this study has relevance in the modern world. This is evidenced by the frequent study of the issues raised. The topic "The state as the main institution of the political system" is studied at the junction of several interrelated disciplines at once.
Many works have been devoted to research questions. Basically, the material presented in the educational literature is of a general nature, and in numerous monographs on this topic, narrower issues of the problem are considered. However, it is required to take into account modern conditions in the study of the problems of the designated topic.
The relevance of this work is due, on the one hand, to the great interest in the topic "The state as the main institution of the political system" in modern science on the other hand, its insufficient development. Consideration of issues related to this topic is of both theoretical and practical significance.
The subject of the study is the consideration of individual issues formulated as the objectives of this study.
1. Reveal the essence, main features and functions of the state, as well as the causes and conditions for its occurrence.
2. Designate the forms of government and forms of government. Define the rule of law.
3. Identify means designed to prevent injustice perpetrated by the state.
The work has a traditional structure and includes an introduction, main body, conclusion and list of references.
Essence, main features and functions of the state. Causes and conditions of its occurrence
The state is a single political organization of society that extends its power to the entire territory of the country and its population, has a special administrative apparatus for this, issues decrees binding on all and has sovereignty. The reasons and reasons that caused the establishment of the state were the decomposition of the primitive communal system, the emergence of private ownership of tools and means of production, the division of society into hostile classes - the exploiters and the exploited.
The main reasons for the emergence of the state were the following:
The need to improve the management of society, associated with its complication. This complication, in turn, was associated with the development of production, the emergence of new industries, the division of labor, changes in the conditions for the distribution of the common product, an increase in the population living in a certain territory, etc.
The need to organize large-scale public works, to unite large masses of people for these purposes. This was especially evident in those regions where the basis of production was irrigated agriculture, which required the construction of canals, water lifts, maintaining them in working condition, etc.
The need to maintain order in society that ensures the functioning of social production, the social stability of society, its stability, including in relation to external influences from neighboring states or tribes.
The necessity of waging wars, both defensive and aggressive.
Essential features of the state:
1. Territory. This is the spatial basis of the state. It includes land, subsoil, water and air space, etc. On its territory, the state exercises independent power and has the right to protect the territory from invasion by other states.
2. Population. It is made up of people living in the territory of the state.
The population of the state may consist of people of one nationality or be multinational, as, for example, in Russia, where more than 60 nations live. The state will be stable and will develop if the relations between them are good-neighbourly, and not conflict.
3. Public authority. Public power is otherwise called public power, that is, power capable of organizing people's lives.
4. Right. It is a system of generally binding rules of conduct. In contrast to the rules of conduct that existed in primitive society and were provided by the force of social coercion (for example, tribesmen expelled a warrior who left the battlefield from the tribe), legal norms are protected by the power of the state, i.e. special government agencies.
5. Law enforcement. They constitute a special system, which includes the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, the police, security agencies, foreign intelligence, tax police, customs authorities, etc.
6. Army. It is necessary to protect the territorial integrity of the state. Usually border disputes and military conflicts arise between adjacent states. In some states, the army is used in internal conflicts.
7. Taxes. These are mandatory payments from the income of citizens and organizations. Their size and terms of payment are established by the state, issuing relevant laws. Taxes are necessary for the maintenance of state bodies, the army, the payment of pensions, benefits to large families, the unemployed, and the disabled.
8. Sovereignty. This is the independence of the state in solving internal and external issues of its life. Otherwise, sovereignty is independence, not subordination, not accountability of the state to anyone. 3, pp. 120-121
State = power + population + territory. That is, the state is an organization of political power acting in relation to the entire population in the territory assigned to it, using law and a special apparatus of coercion.
Under the functions of the state, it is customary to understand the main directions of its activity, which follow from its social nature and are related to the solution of problems facing society at a particular stage of its development. Internal functions include: political (ensuring state sovereignty, protecting the constitutional order, ensuring the sovereignty of the people in various forms); economic; social (state policy in the field of education, science, culture, health of citizens.); ecological; protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, ensuring law and order. The external functions include: the function of integration into the world economy (globalization of the world economy); defense of the country (repulse of armed aggression, protection of the territorial integrity of the state); support of the world law and order (preservation of peace, settlement of interethnic conflicts, elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction of man, improvement of the international situation by strengthening mutual trust between states); cooperation on global problems (the search for mutually acceptable solutions to problems that affect the interests of not only individual peoples and countries, but also of humanity as a whole and require an international response).
The main form of implementation of the functions of the state - legal. The legal form exists in the interrelation of three main directions of the legal activity of the state - the right of creative, the right of executive and law enforcement. In order to ensure the implementation of a certain function, the state creates the necessary legal basis for this, organizes the implementation of the adopted legal norms and ensures their protection from violations.
Forms of government and forms of government. The concept of the rule of law
In modern political science, the concept of “form of the state” is used to generalize the structural and power features of the state. This concept includes three elements: the form of government, the form of government and the political regime.
The form of government determines the principles of the national-territorial organization of the state and the relationship between central authorities and regional ones. There are three main forms of government - a unitary state, federation and confederation. The unitary state, the most common in the modern world, is characterized by the unity of the constitution and the unity of the system of supreme bodies of state power, a high degree of centralization of the management of all administrative-territorial units (departments, regions, districts, etc.) in the absence of political independence. Examples of unitary states include Finland, France, Japan. The federation assumes a different type of internal relations, uniting several states or territories (subjects) into a single union state, while maintaining legal and some political independence for each of them. An indicator of the well-known sovereignty of each member of the federation is the presence of their own constitution, legislation, bodies of representative and executive power, and in some cases citizenship, flag, coat of arms, anthem. At the same time, the fundamental principle of a federal state is the supremacy of a general federal constitution and legislation. Important unifying factors in it are a single socio-economic space, a common monetary system and citizenship. Currently, about 20 countries have chosen a federal form of government. A confederation is a permanent union of sovereign states formed for a specific purpose, most often foreign policy. The subjects of the confederation have a high degree of sovereignty with limited rights of the confederal center, which, as a rule, is in charge of only the main issues of foreign, defense, and in some cases financial and economic policy. If it is necessary to create central bodies, unified armed forces and a common banking system, they are formed on a parity basis and only subject to ratification in the legislative bodies of the subjects of the confederation.
The term form of government is used to designate the method of organizing the supreme state power, the principles of the relationship between its bodies, the degree of participation of the population in their formation. History knows two such forms - the republic and the monarchy. hallmark The republican form of government, the most common in the modern world, is the election of the highest state power. Typologically, there are three subspecies of the republic - parliamentary, presidential and mixed. A parliamentary republic is distinguished by such a sign as the supremacy of the elected legislative assembly, enshrined in constitutional norms. It is the parliament that forms the government responsible to it, selecting candidates from the leaders of the party that won the election, including the prime minister. The head of state (president) performs nothing more than a formal procedure when forming the cabinet of ministers. At the same time, in many parliamentary republics, the highest executive power actually occupies a much more important position compared to what is prescribed for it by law. Parliamentary control over the activities of the government in reality often turns out to be declarative. The parliamentary form of government is established in such countries as Germany, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland. The principle of a strict division of power into legislative, executive and judicial is implemented in the presidential republic. The right to form a government belongs to the president, who is also its head. Thus formed on a non-partisan basis, the government is not responsible to Parliament. The USA, which became the founder of this form of government in 1787, is considered a classic example of a presidential republic. Then it spread most widely in the countries of the Latin American continent - Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay, etc. The mixed form of government has such basic features as the election of the president by universal suffrage; the fact that he has his own rather broad powers of authority, allowing him to act independently of the government; the responsibility of the government, headed by the prime minister, to parliament. This form is enshrined in the constitutions of a number of Western European countries - for example, France, Portugal, Austria, Iceland. The second form of government - the monarchy - is divided into two main varieties: absolute and constitutional. The absolute monarchy, whose roots go back to the Middle Ages, is based on the legal belonging of all the fullness of state power to one person. At present, it has almost completely outlived its usefulness, continuing to retain its external paraphernalia unchanged and only partly the former content in such states as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman. The constitutional monarchy, in turn, can conditionally be subdivided into parliamentary and dualistic. A case in point Great Britain is considered the first. The real legislative power in it belongs to the parliament, and the executive power belongs to the cabinet of ministers headed by the prime minister, whose candidacy is formally selected by the monarch, who in practice performs only ceremonial functions. In contrast, under the dualistic form of monarchy that persists in Jordan and Morocco, real power is concentrated in the hands of the monarch. Parliament, to which the constitution provides legislative powers, which has the right to veto, and even more so does not influence the activities of the executive branch. A rather exotic kind of constitutional monarchy - elective - exists in Malaysia. The 1957 constitution established the procedure for electing the head of state for five years in turn by all nine states that make up this kind of monarchical federal entity. 1 and 2, pp. 63-69 and 39-57.
Modern jurists define the rule of law as a democratic state in which the rule of law is ensured, the principle of separation of powers is consistently implemented, and human rights and freedoms are recognized and guaranteed. Signs of the rule of law: the rule of law; a developed system of rights and freedoms of citizens and a well-established mechanism for the protection of these rights and freedoms; a clear division of state power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial powers; a strong judiciary; democracy. A characteristic feature of the rule of law is the consistent implementation of the principle of equal rights for citizens, regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion and other circumstances.
One of the medieval philosophers noted that the state is a body designed to stop any injustice, except for the one "which it creates itself." In modern states, many means have been invented to prevent injustice perpetrated by the state itself. List these tools and briefly describe them.
I highlight 3 main points of containment of injustice and despotism of power:
1) The practice of separation of powers. It is known that the idea of separation of powers matured in the depths of bourgeois law gradually and took shape as a theory only in the 18th century. Prior to this, the arbitrariness of rulers - despots in Europe was restrained by moral and religious traditions of monarchical rule, the threat of popular uprisings, and the opinion of the church. For the first time the problem of the correlation of power was posed by the famous English philosopher John Locke. He said that the legislative power must necessarily be supreme, and all the rest, in the person of any members of society, emanate from it. Montesquieu believed that in order to prevent the abuse of power, it is necessary that one power restrain the other.
In accordance with the modern interpretation of the theory of separation of powers, for the normal functioning of the rule of law, it must have independent legislative (parliament), executive (government) and judicial power (constitutional court, prosecutor's office, etc.). The separation of powers is designed to balance the various branches of power, create a system of checks and balances, and prevent monopolization of the public powers of one of the parties.
2) A huge number of public and human rights organizations.
3) International law (Strasbourg Court, Hague Tribunal, etc.)
The modern general theory of the state sees the basis of statehood in the rights of peoples and connects the concept of state power with the category of human rights, i.e. basic to legislative and outside legislative requirements of a certain measure of freedom, primary in relation to power. These demands and the rights of peoples are fixed in the principles and norms of international law.
Conclusion
In each particular society, its political system and the political ideas, representations, political consciousness corresponding to it do not exist in isolation as something isolated, posited from the outside. Acting as a set of the most important political institutions, arising and functioning on the basis of certain political ideas, the political system of a particular society and the ideas corresponding to it continuously interact with each other, exert a constant influence, presuppose each other.
The significance of knowledge and study of the political system lies in the fact that it is in it that the core of the social, economic and spiritual life of society passes, that it is here that the clash and coordination of the will of various social forces make decisions that can influence different aspects of society.
List of used literature
1. General theory rights. Ed. Pigolkina A.S. M., 1996, Ch. 3, paragraph 2
2. Theory of state and law. Issue. 2. Ed. Vengerova A.B. M., 1994
3. Theory of the state, ed. M.N. Marchenko M.2001
4. General theory of law. Textbook for law schools under the general. ed. Pigolkina A.S. M.: Publishing house of MSTU im. N.E. Bauman, 1997
5. Spiridonov L.I. Theory of State and Law M.: Prospekt, 1999
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