State versus Nation

Vocabulary flashcards covering the concepts, definitions, and essential elements of a State and a Nation based on the lecture notes.

State

The most universal and most powerful of all institutions, which is political in nature, derived from the word "status", and first used in writing by Niccolò Machiavelli.

Niccolò Machiavelli

The political writer (1469–1527) who first used the term "state" in his writings, specifically in his significant work titled "Prince".

Prince

The significant work written by Niccolò Machiavelli in which the term "state" was first used.

Nation

A community of people bound together by shared cultural, historical, and psychological ties, forming a subjective and emotional bond rather than a legal one.

Elements of the State

The four foundational components required to form a state: People, Territory, Government, and Sovereignty.

People

An element of the state referring to the mass of population living within the state; it answers the question "who governs".

Territory

An element of the state defined as the fixed, demarcated portion of the earth's surface that rightly belongs to the population and answers the question "where".

Terrestrial Domain

The land domain component of a state's territory.

Fluvial/Maritime Domain

The water domain component of a state's territory.

Aerial Domain

The air-space domain component of a state's territory.

Government

An element of the state acting as the agency or aggregate of institutions through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed, and carried out.

Sovereignty

An element of the state defined as the supreme and final legal authority to command and enforce obedience within its jurisdiction, free from foreign control.

Internal Sovereignty

The aspect of sovereignty meaning that the state is supreme over all its citizens and associations within its domain.

External Sovereignty

The aspect of sovereignty meaning that the state is independent and free from foreign or outside control.