State and government

A state (or nation) is a political organisation with the authority to govern a fixed territory and the people living in it. It has four important parts:

• People: the citizens who live there;
• Land: a fixed area or territory;
• Government: a system to run the country;
• Sovereignty: full power to make its own laws and decisions, without outside control.

Why must the people be permanent? Tourists visit and move on; they don't share a life in that place. But people who identify with a place and live there together form a permanent population, and over time they build their own culture and society.

A territory is an area with clear boundaries. The boundaries need not be rivers or mountains; often they are lines that neighbouring states have agreed on. A border can be an agreement, not just a natural feature.

Sovereignty means the state has complete control over its own affairs and can make and carry out laws to suit its needs. No other country or outside body can interfere in its internal matters. That is why sovereignty is essential to being a state.

The government is the group of people, or the system, that runs the country: the leaders, ministers and officials who make laws, enforce them and settle disputes.

Here is the key difference. The government is just one part of the state. Governments change after elections, but the state stays the same. Think of the state as a school, and the government as the principal and teachers: teachers come and go, but the school remains. (Just as a school needs rules so it doesn't turn into a circus, a country needs a government and laws.)

Put the two side by side:

• How long it lasts: the state is permanent; a government is temporary and changes through elections.
• Who is in it: the state includes all the citizens and the whole territory; the government is a much smaller group of people who use power for them.
• Where its power comes from: the state holds sovereignty itself; the government only uses the powers the state gives it through the Constitution.

Why do people use the two words as if they mean the same? Because the government acts on behalf of the state and is the part we see working every day. It runs the state's daily work, and we usually deal with the government, not 'the whole state'.

One more thing: in India the word 'state' can mean the Indian State (the whole country) or one of its parts, like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu or Kerala.