When we speak of the State, we refer to a form of sovereign social organization that has administrative and regulatory power over a certain territory. In turn, when the rule of law is mentioned, it includes the organizations resulting from the law and the division of powers.
The concept originally arose in Platonic dialogues, but later it was Machiavelli who introduced the word itself in his work 'The Prince'.
State is not the same as government, which is a constituent part of it, nor is it the same as a nation, since there may be nations without a State or several nations grouped under the same state unit. A nation is understood as a group of people who share a linguistic, religious, ethnic and, above all, cultural bond. Thus, Bolivia is a multinational State, while the Roma people constitute a nation that has not formed a State within a territory with its own borders.
For a State to be recognized as such, its existence must be admitted by other States, it must have bodies to institutionalize its authority and it must have the ability to differentiate its control. Furthermore, a State must pursue the internalization of a collective identity through symbols such as the anthem and the flag. The national coat of arms and some of its own attributes also constitute icons that define a State. It should be remembered that there are currently both sub-national flags and coats of arms, especially in those nations that have a federal structure.
In this sense, one can speak of different forms of state organization, such as the centralist, the federal or the autonomist. Federal States recognize the existence of small local States, with a certain level of autonomy, but that delegate to the central or federal State the representation before the foreigner, the creation of certain taxes, the redistribution of finances, the defense against attacks from abroad. and the fight against certain specific crimes. Among the most characteristic examples are the United States, Germany, Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, just to name a few.
In International Law, different types of states are recognized: sovereigns with full capacity to act, those with limitations in their capacity to act (for example, neutral states that do not participate in international conflicts), and others. The United Nations Organization constitutes a benchmark for the coexistence of States, which are mutually linked through international treaties for protection, defense, trade or other areas. In South America, MercoSur stands out, a customs union in progressive stages that involves Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil and Paraguay.
Throughout history, different currents have risen against the conception of the State. For example, anarchism maintains that the State monopolizes security, defense and social protection by exercising a compulsory and violent government, and thus rejects all forms of government. Another case is Marxism, which affirms that it is a unit of exercise of the interests of the dominant social class and that it aspires to the conquest of power by the working class. Or, liberalism, which seeks to reduce the role of the State to a minimum to ensure respect for basic freedoms, especially market freedom. At present, both anarchism and Marxism have fallen into progressive oblivion, as a result of the difficulties for their real implementation, in the first case, and the collapse of the Soviet political and economic model, in the other. However, modern states are generally associated with a respect for liberal trade patterns, but with the preservation and control of actions of general interest such as education, internal security, defense, justice and health, such as priority items.
