Thhe Different Theoretical Perspectives on the Origin of the State

State - Meaning Charatcterstics

Man , for the major part of his existence , nearly the first 2 million years , has lived in small groups like villages or tribes etc . These villages subsequently started combining to form larger political units until about 4000 B .C . first state in history was formed (Carneiro 1977 A state can be defined as below

.an autonomous political unit , encompassing many communities within its territory and having a centralized government with the power to collect taxes , draft men for work or war , and decree and enforce laws (Carneiro 1977

p While theorists agree that , this process of aggregation of villages once started , happened at a comparatively faster rate , of them could explain the origin and need for the formation of a State satisfactorily (Carneiro 1977

Characteristics - Some characteristics of a stare are : a centralized government and a bureaucratic level , presence of a military , an emphasis on trade in main terms of distribution , technology in terms of storage in case of surplus production , an institutionalized religion of some kind , stratification etc (Lukas n .d

All the characteristics and definitions , mentioned above , represent an ideal state

Various theories of Origin of State

Superposition theory - This was one of the earlier theories and was forwarded by F .Ratzel ,

.W . Schmidt , A . R 'stow and F . Oppenheimer . The theory explains the emergence of State due to a rising political ruling class , and imposing rules by the nomadic tribes on farmers . The main problem with the theory is that , is that according to various historical sources , nomadism appeared later than the emergence of first civilization (Lukas n .d

Functionalism - It is also known as consensus theory . The theory was a superset of an ecological approach to explain the origins of the state based on population growth and reduction in number of resources . As the villages joined due to their needs , there would be periodic conflicts and this would lead to adjustments and newer rules . In time , a state is developed which is functionally structured based on rules that ease these conflicts (Ratcliff n .d

Conflict theory - This theory lays more emphasis on the various skirmishes that would occur when multiple tribes come in contact with each other . The theory suggests that , these conflicts could be suppressed only by a dominant group . Examples of a state formation this way are the Aztecs , and Mayans . These states were as a result of conflicts between small polities , militaristic expansionism , and resulting internal political structure . This type of state mostly are very violent and ultimately either end up with a redistribution of power and wealth , either through revolution e .g . a communist state or reform e .g . a socialist state (Ratcliff n .d

References

Carneiro R .L , Theory of the origin of the State , 1977

HYPERLINK "http /mason .gmu .edu trustici /archive /ORIGIN .pdf http /mason .gmu .edu trustici /archive /ORIGIN .pdf

Lukas S .A , On the Origins of the State

HYPERLINK "http /www .ltcconline .net /lukas /handouts /stateoriginssmall .ppt www .ltcconline .net /lukas /handouts...