The state: the concept, the characteristic features and its functions.

The state is a unified political organization of society which extends the power to all territory of the country and its population, enacts binding commands for all, has for this purpose administrative machinery and possesses the sovereignty.

Characteristic features of the state

- sovereignty

 - people

- territory

 - state symbols

 - taxes and levies

 - citizenship

 - enforcing authorities

 - state apparatus

 - laws

       Sovereignty maybe defined as the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to its will from the people within its jurisdiction corollary to have freedom from foreign control.It may be internal (power of the state to rule within its territory) and external (the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without subjection to or control by other states).

       People – the mass of population living within the state.

Territory – demarcated area that rightly belongs to the population.

State Symbols represent the cultural heritage and natural treasures
of each state. Usually there are represented in the forms of flag, emblem and anthem.

Taxes – obligatory monetary payments to the budget as established by the state through legislation in a unilateral procedure, except for the cases specified in this Code, which are paid in certain amounts, which are irrevocable and non-refundable. Levies are the other obligatory payments to the budget (for ex. registration levies, levy from auctions).

Citizenship denotes the link between a person and a state or an association of states. It is normally synonymous with the term nationality although the latter term may also refer to ethnic connotations. Possession of citizenship is normally associated with the right to work and live in a country and to participate in political life. A person who does not have citizenship in any state is said to be stateless

Enforcing authorities. The term " enforcing authorities " in the functioning legislation does not meet. But usually it means the set of government authorities, law enforcement agencies and courts.

The laws are the set of the regulatory enactments

 

                                 Functions of the state

Internal functions

• a) protection of the rights and freedoms of the person and citizen;

• b) protection of forms of ownership;

• c) providing law order;

• d) the ecological (environmental);

• e) the economic;

• e) the social;

• g) development of scientific- and- technical progress;

• h) taxation.

•

External functions

• a) conducting aggressive wars (annexation wars);

• b) protection of the country against attack from the outside, defence of country;

• c) peacekeeping;

• d) mutually advantageous trade;

• e) the decision together with other states of world problems.

 

The form of the state

The form of the state is the structural organization of society expressed in the form of government in the form of state structure and in the form of a political regime.

Form of government – it is structure of the highest agency of state power, the order of their creation and distribution of powers between them.

A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single individual (the monarch).^[1]

Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government; his or her powers are not limited by a constitution or by the law.

Constitutional monarchy (or limited monarchy)^{[ citation needed ]} is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the guidelines of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified, or blended constitution.

Dual monarchy occurs when two separate kingdoms are ruled by the same monarch, follow the same foreign policy, exist in a customs union with each other and have a combined military but are otherwise self-governing. The term is typically used to refer to Austria–Hungary, a dual monarchy that existed from 1867 to 1918.

A Parliamentary monarchy is a state headed by a monarch who is not actively involved in policy formation or implementation (i.e., the exercise of sovereign powers by a monarch in a ceremonial capacity); true governmental leadership is carried out by a cabinet and its head - a prime minister, premier, or chancellor - who are drawn from a legislature (parliament).

A republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a "public matter" (Latin: res publica), not the private concern or property of the rulers, and where offices of state are subsequently directly or indirectly elected or appointed rather than inherited. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.

A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament). There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics. Most have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state; with the head of government holding real power, much like constitutional monarchies. Some have fused the roles of head of state and head of government, much like Presidential systems, but with a dependency upon parliamentary power.

For the first case mentioned above, in particular, the form of executive-branch arrangement is distinct from most other parliamentary and semi-presidential republics which separate the head of state (usually designated as the "president") from the head of government (usually designated as "prime minister", "premier" or "chancellor") and subject the latter to the confidence of parliament and a flexible tenure in office while the head of state lacks either dependency, and investing either office with the majority of executive power.

A presidential republic is a system of government where an executive branch is led by a person who serves as both head of state and head of government. That person is usually elected and titled "president". In a presidential system, the executive branch exists separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which it cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss.

There are mixed (parliamentary- and -presidential) republics (for ex. Portugal) in which the government is formed by in common the president and parliament.

Form of state structure – the administrative- and- territorial structure of the state characterizing relationship between central and local state authorities.

A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions (subnational units) exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate. The great majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government.

Unitary states are contrasted with federal states (federations):

In a unitary state, subnational units are created and abolished and their powers may be broadened and narrowed, by the central government. Although political power in unitary states may be delegated through devolution to local government by statute, the central government remains supreme; it may abrogate the acts of devolved governments or curtail their powers.

A federation (Latin: foedus, foederis,), also known as a federal state, is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, are typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the latter.

The governmental or constitutional structure found in a federation is known as federalism. It can be considered the opposite of another system, the unitary state.

A confederation (or confederacy), in modern political terms, is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units.^[1] Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues (such as defense, foreign affairs, or a common currency), with the central government being required to provide support for all members.

Form of the political regime – set of methods and ways of exercising of the state power.

A democratic regime refers to a democratically elected government. It is a form of government whose representatives acquired their mandate and power from the people either directly through a referendum or through their democratically elected representatives.

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.

The antidemocratic regime has some types: tyranny, totalitarianism,  fascism etc. The antidemocratic regime has some features:

a) domination of one political party;

b) existence of one official ideology;

c) as a rule, domination of one form of ownership;

d) minimizing or elimination of any political rights and freedoms;

e) stratification of society onto classts, estates and castes;

e) low economic level of the peoples" life;

g) emphasis on punitive measures and concussions;

h) aggression in foreign policy, etc.

The legal state is the organization of the political power, creating conditions for the fullest ensuring the rights and freedoms of the person and the citizen, and also for the consecutive restriction by means of the law of the government for prevention of offenses.

Features of the legal state:

rules of law (supremacy of law),

supremacy of the constitution,

division of the powers (authorities),

increase of a role of the court,

the advanced civil society,

security of the rights and freedoms of citizens