ON

“ANALYSING THE INDIAN NATION STATE

(POL- SCIENCE)”

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Ms. Shweta Rathore Mam Mehvash
Roll No- 18041020130
Sec-A, Sem-1
Subject Code-BALB1002
ANALYSING
THE NATION
STATE
 ABSTRACT

The article explains about the nation state and state sovereignty. It has many
dimensions such as economic, political, military, social and cultural dimension.
It creates both opportunities and costs to the nation state. Sovereignty is the
most essential element of the state. Globalization contributes to the change
and reduction of the scope of state sovereignty. The scope of the inner
sovereignty has legally narrowed to a large degree due to the international
agreements including global financial flows, activities of International
Organization and Multinational Corporation, Information communication
technology and issues concerning human rights and in connection with already
formed models and traditions of states' behavior. At the same time
increasingly more states quite often give away some of their sovereign powers
voluntarily for certain reason.
 INTRODUCTION

The Nation
A nation is a group of people who see themselves as a cohesive and coherent
unit based on shared cultural or historical criteria. Nations are socially
constructed units, not given by nature. Their existence, definition, and
members can change dramatically based on circumstances. Nations in some
ways can be thought of as “imagined communities” that are bound together by
notions of unity that can pivot around religion, ethnic identity, language,
cultural practice and so forth. The concept and practice of a nation work to
establish who belongs and who does not (insider vs. outsider). Such
conceptions often ignore political boundaries such that a single nation may
“spill over” into multiple states. Furthermore, states ≠ nations: not every
nation has a state (e.g., Kurds; Roma; Palestine). Some states may contain all
or parts of multiple nations.

A system of organization in which people with a common identity live inside a

country with firm borders and a single government. The nation state is a
system of political, geographic, and cultural organization

The Nation State is held together by its physical boundaries, its government
and the fact that the people believe they are connected to each other.

The fundamental parts of the nation state are The Nation and The State

•Nation: tightly knit group of people who share a common culture

• Nationalism: belief in and loyalty to a nation

 The State
A State is an independent, sovereign government exercising control over a
certain spatially defined and bounded area, whose borders are usually clearly
defined and internationally recognized by other state

The State is the body of government, the rules and laws, the government
officials and their titles s., the physical boundaries and those who define them

8 Characteristics of a State
• Territory with boundaries

• Permanent population

• Economic system (money, goods & services, trade, etc.)

• Social system (health care, education, etc.)

• Transportation system

• Government

• Sovereignty (control)

• Recognized by other States

Challenges to States: –
• Globalization

• Terrorism

• New superpowers: European Union (EU), China, India –

• Trading blocs

Microstates
• Very small population or very small land area

• Examples: – Monaco – Andorra – Liechtenstein – Vatican City – Nauru

Stateless Nations
Palestine: A nation, but no State

Kurdistan: A nation, but no State

Territories: Are Not States - No Sovereignty

Examples: – Hong Kong – Greenland – Puerto Rico – Parts of United Kingdom

England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

What is a Nation-State?
• Nation-state: When a nation of people has a State of their own.

• Examples: – France – Egypt – Japan

State: Elements and Necessity of the State

Elements of State:

A State stands identified with its four absolutely essential elements:

1. Population:

State is a community of persons. It is a human political institution. Without a

population there can be no State. Population can be more or less but it has to
be there. There are States with very small populations like Switzerland, Canada
and others, and there are States like China, India and others, with very large
populations.
The people living in the State are the citizens of the State. They enjoy rights
and freedom as citizens as well as perform several duties towards the State.
When citizens of another State are living in the territory of the State, they are
called aliens. All the persons, citizens as well as aliens, who are living in the
territory of the State are duty bound to obey the state laws and policies. The
State exercises supreme authority over them through its government.

There is no definite limit for the size of population essential for a State.
However, it is recognised that the population should be neither too large nor
very small. It has to be within a reasonable limit. It should be determined on
the basis of the size of the territory of the State, the available resources, the
standard of living expected and needs of defence, production of goods and
supplies. India has a very large and fast growing population and there is every
need to check population growth. It is essential for enhancing the ability of
India to register a high level of sustainable development.

2. Territory:
Territory is the second essential element of the State. State is a territorial unit.
Definite territory is its essential component. A State cannot exist in the air or at
sea. It is essentially a territorial State. The size of the territory of a State can be
big or small; nevertheless, it has to be a definite, well-marked portion of
territory.

States like Russia, Canada, U.S.A., India, China, Brazil and some others are large
sized states whereas Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Switzerland, Togo,
Burundi and many others are States with small territories. The whole territory
of the state is under the sovereignty or supreme power of the State. All
persons, organisations, associations, institutions and places located within its
territory are under the sovereign jurisdiction of the State.
Further, it must be noted that the territory of the state includes not only the
land but also, rivers, lakes, canals inland seas if any, a portion of coastal sea—
territorial waters or maritime belt, continental shelf, mountains, hills and all
other land features along with the air space above the territory.

The territory of the state can also include some islands located in the sea. For
example Anadaman & Nicobar and Daman and Diu are parts of India. State
exercises sovereignty over all parts of its territory. Ships of the State are its
floating parts and Aero-planes are its flying parts. Even a States can lease out
its territory to another State e.g. India has given on lease the Teen Bigha
corridor to Bangladesh.

3.Government:
Government is the organization or machinery or agency or magistracy of the
State which makes, implements, enforces and adjudicates the laws of the
state. Government is the third essential element of the State. The state
exercises its sovereign power through its government. This sometimes creates
the impression that there is no difference between the State and Government.
However, it must be clearly noted that government is just one element of the
State. It is the agent or the working agency of the State. Sovereignty belongs to
the State; the government only uses it on behalf of the State.

Each government has three organs:

(1) Legislature—which formulates the will of State i.e. performs law-making

functions;

(2) Executive— enforces and implements the laws i.e. performs the law-
application functions; and
(3) Judiciary—which applies the laws to specific cases and settles the disputes
i.e. performs adjudication functions.

Government as a whole is the instrument through which the sovereign power

of the State gets used. Government is an essential element of State. However,
it keeps on changing after regular intervals. Further, Government can be of any
form—Monarchy or Aristocracy or Dictatorship or Democracy. It can be either
Parliamentary or Presidential or both. It can be Unitary or Federal or of mixture
of these two in its organisation and working. In contemporary times every
civilized State has a democratic representative, responsible transparent and
accountable government.

3. Sovereignty:

Sovereignty is the most exclusive element of State. State alone possess

sovereignty. Without sovereignty no state can exit. Some institutions can have
the first three elements (Population Territory and Government) but not
sovereignty.

State has the exclusive title and prerogative to exercise supreme power over
all its people and territory. In fact, Sovereignty is the basis on which the State
regulates all aspects of the life of the people living in its territory.

As the supreme power of the State, Sovereignty has two dimensions:

 Internal Sovereignty
 External Sovereignty.

Internal Sovereignty:
It means the power of the State to order and regulate the activities of all the
people, groups and institutions which are at work within its territory. All these
institutions always act in accordance with the laws of the State. The State can
punish them for every violation of any of its laws.

External Sovereignty:

It means complete independence of the State from external control. It also

means the full freedom of the State to participate in the activities of the
community of nations. Each state has the sovereign power to formulate and
act on the basis of its independent foreign policy.

We can define external sovereignty of the State as its sovereign equality with
every other state. State voluntarily accepts rules of international law. These
cannot be forced upon the State. India is free to sign or not to sign any treaty
with any other state. No state can force it to do so.

No State can really become a State without sovereignty. India became a State
in 1947 when it got independence and sovereignty. After her independence,
India got the power to exercise both internal and external Sovereignty.
Sovereignty permanently, exclusively and absolutely belongs to the State. End
of sovereignty means end of the State. That is why sovereignty is accepted as
the exclusive property and hallmark of the State.

These are the four essential elements of a State. A State comes to be a state
only when it has all these elements. Out of these four elements, Sovereignty
stands accepted as the most important and exclusive element of the State.

No other organisation or institution can claim sovereignty. An institution can

have population, territory and government but not sovereignty. Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Punjab, Sikkim, in fact all states of the Indian
Union have their populations, territories and governments. These are also
loosely called states. Yet these are not really states. These are integral parts of
the Indian State. Sovereignty belongs to India. Sikkim was a state before it
joined India in 1975. Now it is one of the 28 states of India. UNO is not a state
and so is the case of the Commonwealth of Nations, because these do not
possess sovereignty. SAARC is not a state. It is only a regional association of
sovereign states of South Asia.

India, China, U.S.A., U.K., France, Germany, Japan, Australia, Egypt, South
Africa, Brazil, Argentina and others such countries are States because each of
these possesses all the four essential elements of state. The presence of all
these four elements alone vests a State with real statehood.

Nation-Station: Challenges of Definition

The concept of a nation-state is notoriously difficult to define. Anthony Smith,
one of the most influential scholars of nation-states and nationalism, argued
that a state is a nation-state only if and when a single ethnic and cultural
population inhabits the boundaries of a state, and the boundaries of that state
are coextensive with the boundaries of that ethnic and cultural population.
This is a very narrow definition that presumes the existence of the “one nation,
one state” model. Consequently, less than 10% of states in the world meet its
criteria. The most obvious deviation from this largely ideal model is the
presence of minorities, especially ethnic minorities, which ethnic and cultural
nationalists exclude from the majority nation. The most illustrative historical
examples of groups that have been specifically singled out as outsiders are the
Roma and Jews in Europe. In legal terms, many nation-states today accept
specific minorities as being part of the nation, which generally implies that
members of minorities are citizens of a given nation-state and enjoy the same
rights and liberties as members of the majority nation. However, nationalists
and, consequently, symbolic narratives of the origins and history of nation-
states often continue to exclude minorities from the nation-state and the
nation.
According to a wider working definition, a nation-state is a type of state that
conjoins the political entity of a state to the cultural entity of a nation, from
which it aims to derive its political legitimacy to rule and potentially its status
as a sovereign state if one accepts the declarative theory of statehood as
opposed to the constitutive theory. A state is specifically a political and
geopolitical entity, while a nation is a cultural and ethnic one. The term
“nation-state” implies that the two coincide, in that a state has chosen to
adopt and endorse a specific cultural group as associated with it. The concept
of a nation-state can be compared and contrasted with that of the
multinational state, city-state, empire, confederation, and other state
formations with which it may overlap. The key distinction is the identification
of a people with a polity in the nation-state.

Origins
The origins and early history of nation-states are disputed. Two major
theoretical questions have been debated. First, “Which came first, the nation
or the nation-state?” Second, “Is nation-state a modern or an ancient idea?”
Some scholars have advanced the hypothesis that the nation-state was an
inadvertent byproduct of 15th century intellectual discoveries in political
economy, capitalism, mercantilism, political geography, and
geography combined together with cartography and advances in map-making
technologies. For others, the nation existed first, then nationalist movements
arose for sovereignty, and the nation-state was created to meet that demand.
Some “modernization theories” of nationalism see it as a product of
government policies to unify and modernize an already existing state. Most
theories see the nation-state as a modern European phenomenon, facilitated
by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy, and mass
media (including print). However, others look for the roots of nation-states in
ancient times.

Most commonly, the idea of a nation-state was and is associated with the rise
of the modern system of states, often called the “Westphalian system” in
reference to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). The balance of power that
characterized that system depended on its effectiveness upon clearly defined,
centrally controlled, independent entities, whether empires or nation-states,
that recognized each other’s sovereignty and territory. The Westphalian
system did not create the nation-state, but the nation-state meets the criteria
for its component states.

Characteristics
Nation-states have their own characteristics that today may be taken-for-
granted factors shaping a modern state, but that all developed in contrast to
pre-national states. Their territory is considered semi-sacred and
nontransferable. Nation-states use the state as an instrument of national unity,
in economic, social, and cultural life. Nation-states typically have a more
centralized and uniform public administration than their imperial predecessors
because they are smaller and less diverse. After the 19th-century triumph of
the nation-state in Europe, regional identity was usually subordinate to
national identity. In many cases, the regional administration was also
subordinate to central (national) government. This process has been partially
reversed from the 1970s onward, with the introduction of various forms of
regional autonomy in formerly centralized states (e.g., France).

The most obvious impact of the nation-state, as compared to its non-national

predecessors, is the creation of a uniform national culture through state policy.
The model of the nation-state implies that its population constitutes a nation,
united by a common descent, a common language, and many forms of shared
culture. When the implied unity was absent, the nation-state often tried to
create it. The creation of national systems of compulsory primary education is
usually linked with the popularization of nationalist narratives. Even today,
primary and secondary schools around the world often teach a mythologized
version of national history.

CONCLUSION
the nation-state is the basic political community in the contemporary world,
despite regional and global challenges;

subjective approaches to defining nations, prioritizing awareness of belonging

to a national group, have advantages over efforts to construct objective
definitions;

the symbolic, imagined, aspects of nations can be as important as historical or

other cultural ‘facts’ about the nation;
nationalism is a many-sided and potent political ideology, though we can
pinpoint some general characteristics shared by all nationalist movements;

political theorists have offered imaginative responses to dilemmas of secession

and national self-determination, such as the democratic and remedial
approaches;

all theoretical ‘solutions’ to issues of secession are vulnerable to objections;

our assessments of political theories can depend on (sometimes unspoken)

assumptions that we make about political realities and specific cases.

Nation building though difficult without State building is viewed some as a

cultural or psychological components of political development. It is also
described as a process through which people transfers their petty
commitments and loyalties from group, tribes, villages, regions and petty
principalities to a larger single national system We conclude that the Nation-
State is the basic political community in the contemporary world. Despite
regional and global challenges. Subjective approaches to defining nations,
prioritizing awareness of belongings to a national group, have advantages over
efforts to construct objective definitions. The symbolic, imagined, aspects of
nations can be as important as historical or other cultural facts about the
nation. Political theorists have offered imaginative responses to dilemma of
succession and national self-determination, such as the democratic and
remedial approaches. The Nation-State makes a country more powerful,
before1947 India was only Nation and not a State as it didn’t have external
sovereignty but after the independence India became a Nation-

State as it has both internal and external sovereignty. For a Nation-State it

acquires political independence and sovereignty and India has both that’s why
after getting Independence India became a Nation-State...

REFERENCES
 Preferred class study material
 Preferred Course Political Book
 Used Internet Source; some articles written by K.K Ghai