Meaning of state (what is it, concept and definition)

What is State:

The word state refers to the situation in which people, objects, entities or contexts can be found at a certain moment. This also includes the ways of being or being in the course of time.

The word comes from the Latin status , which means "to be detained". Over time, the word began to be used to refer to the state of something at a given moment, a use that quickly spread in politics to refer to the republic.

In its broadest sense, the word state can be used as follows: "Your state of health is excellent"; "They left the house in a state of abandonment"; "The social crisis has reached an alarming state"; "Let's check the weather before we go out"; "During the experiment the liquid has gone into a gaseous state."

State in politics

The State is a form of socio-political organization. It is an entity with sovereign power to govern and perform political, social and economic functions within a defined geographical area. The elements that make up the State are population, territory and power.

The modern state is normally structured into three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.

Currently, there are different forms of organization of a State. Among them, we can mention the central State, the federal State or the autonomous State, names related to the way in which the territory is organized and the powers are distributed.

The word State, referring to the maximum political unity of a country, is capitalized. For example: "The State of Chile"; "The Head of State announced new measures"; "There are rumors that there will be a coup." Likewise, capital letters are used when the word refers to military structures: General Staff, Central General Staff and General General Staff.

Difference between state, nation and government

The words nation and government are wrongly used as a synonym for the State, depending on the context. But although they are related, they are different definitions. Let's see the difference.

The State is specifically understood as the organization of a territory under the control of a government.

The nation refers to the community of people who share a language, culture, religion, history and / or territory. It can be organized in a national state or not.

A national state is one that results from the socio-political organization of a nation that shares a common territory, language and history. In other words, it is the State that represents a nation. This is the case in most of today's modern states. For example, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, Colombia, etc.

Other states have been characterized by bringing together different nations under their rule. For example, the Spanish State (which integrates the nations of Catalonia and the Basque country) or the extinct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The word government, on the other hand, refers to the people who administer the State, regardless of their nature. In other words, the government is called the authorities that, in the name of a State, exercise administrative functions of any kind for a certain time.

Nation	State	government
Community of people who share language and culture within the framework of a history and / or territory.	Form of social, political and economic organization that claims sovereignty over a given territory.	Governing bodies of a State, represented by elected authorities or appointed by a competent institution.
It is a historical and cultural concept.	Abstract concept that integrates citizenship, territory, organization and reference values.	Concrete and recognizable concept, since its actors can be identified.
There may be a stateless nation. Example: Jewish nation during the diaspora.	Timeless duration. Its permanent.	Temporary duration. Government representatives change periodically.
It is not a form of political organization.	Impersonal power.	Direct exercise of power on behalf of the State.

See also:

• Government, nation.

Regional state

In federally organized countries, such as the United States and Mexico, each of the political and geographical divisions of the territory circumscribed to the General Staff is called a state .

These entities have autonomy and have their own government chaired by a governor and articulated by a local administrative structure. For example: the state of Veracruz in Mexico or the state of Alabama in the United States.

In this case, the word state is always written in lower case. For example: "The Governor of the state of Veracruz will attend the workers' assembly." "The Democratic Party lost the elections in the state of Alabama."

Rule of law

It is called the rule of law to the constitutional regime that guarantees the exercise of freedom, the proper separation of public powers, the exercise of civil rights and law enforcement.

From all this arises that the rule of law judicially protects citizens from abuse of power by the authorities. This type of regime is typical of democratic states.

Exception status

When a country based on the rule of law faces a serious disturbance of public order (coup d'etat in the making, uncontrolled looting, etc.), the government has the power to declare a "state of emergency".

This is the suspension of constitutional guarantees for a specified period. The term thus alludes to a temporary condition in which a nation finds itself.

Marital status

It refers to the situation in which a citizen finds himself with regard to his affiliations, from which a series of legal rights and duties emerge. Marital statuses are: single, married, divorced, or widowed.

State of matter

In physics and chemistry, the state or phases of matter are related to the molecular structure of each substance, they are different forms of aggregation that matter can acquire.

Depending on the pressure and temperature to which a body is subjected, it can exist in one of three different states or phases. A classic example is water that can be in a solid, liquid or gaseous state.

There are other states of matter that differ from the previous ones, they are: plasma (ionized gas), Bose-Einstein condensate, fermionic condensate (superfluid at low temperatures) and neutron stars.