Idea of the State

It may not be inappropriate to look at the State as a concept with its characteristic elements (people, territory, government and supreme authority) and varied forms on the one hand, and as an idea of an ultimate, perfect political and civic association of human life on the other. The idea of the State is different from its forms, institutions, elements and stages of development.

In Plato’s vision, it refers to the perfect form ot the State (in lhe Republic). For Aristotle it is the ‘ultimate home of the man’ (man being a political animal) and the ‘nature’ of man is to stay in the State as is the nature of a seed to grow into a tree. For Hegel, it is the ‘march of the God on earth’, i.e., the journey of an overarching ‘Spirit’. Viewed in this context, the idea of the State is the telos or the goal or a moral purpose that would be achieved through stages by evolution of the State as a concept. Each state in its actual form presents an incomplete form of the idea of the State and is only an attempt at reaching it. This can be elucidated in the same way as we compare a horse or a person with the idea of horsiness or humanity. By saying that a particular horse is good or a person is good, we are comparing that specific horse/person with the idea of a perfect horse or a perfect human being.

Critics may argue that such a formulation would render the individual helpless vis-à-vis the State and make one submit to the ‘abstract will’ of the State. it gives credence to an existing State, be it authoritarian or repressive. The pitfall of the ‘idea of the State’ theory is that it would legitimize the processes of colonization and imperialism.