Talk:State (polity)

State and it's meaning

Is it always necessary that State is an organization as the article says? I suppose, it could not be, because it is a sovereign legitimate political authority and it could take any form. It could be even the Constitution as in the case of India Or a Parliament as in the case of UK. It is the highest legitimate political authority ruling over a definite territory and a population and it may or may not possess a government. Icedlemonpeachtea (talk) 17:42, 18 June 2022 (UTC)

I've read things that critique the notion of state, and the degree to which it exists in the realm of ideas, or can be considered a single entity etc. I seem to remember Foucault going on about this, and imagine the post modernist crowd have opinions. Talpedia (talk) 22:01, 18 June 2022 (UTC)

Michel Foucault advocated for radical view of power which is that one cannot locate power it could come from anywhere but the State is/has legitimate political power which is authority and authority may be located. It could be seen when it is exercised. Icedlemonpeachtea (talk) 04:48, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

I'm not massively familiar with the topic, but we have

Foucault is renowned for his criticisms of state theory and advocacy of a bottom-up approach to social power; and for his hostility to many theoretical and practical manifestations of orthodox Marxism

I did not get the point you are trying to make regarding the theories of State. I just gave generally accepted features of a 𝙈𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣 State in the field of Political Studies, and was a little surprised to see it termed as "organization". Icedlemonpeachtea (talk) 13:02, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

Just that some postmodernist scholars and others) have critiqued the definition of the state in various ways, and that this seems to includes Foucault from the source, so this might be interesting to include. Talpedia (talk) 13:13, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

References

State

Community 106.206.13.47 (talk) 01:23, 29 October 2022 (UTC)

There is a need to redefine the term "State". State represents set of people within geographical boundries, who define their own laws and rules. They create organs of their State to regulate and implement defined rules and laws. Their laws may constitute rules to defend their geographical boundaries and socialize and trade with other States outside their boundaries. 67.70.82.11 (talk) 17:51, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

What you are describing is not the state, but the nation. It is a closely connected concept, which is why the two are intentionally conflated into the term nation-state. Idacticus (talk) 03:11, 15 August 2026 (UTC)

Language and State

Xing Yu advanced a theory about the origin and the growth of the state from the perspective of language. He argues that since humans began to use language, they have been able to develop and use media. Media in this context mean any form or being that facilitates linguistic communication. Media extend the distance of linguistic communication. Humans communicate and interact with one another on a large scale. They share traditional ideas, hold the same religious belief and gain the same historical memory. They unite for form a large community. This leads to the dissolution of tribes and the formation of the state. Language plays a crucial role in the growth of the state. He discusses this subject matter in two books. These two books are as follows:

Xing Yu, Language and State: An Inquiry into the Progress of Civilization, Second Edition, Friesen Press in Altona, MB, Canada,2021 isbn=978-1-5255-9506-6

Xing Yu, Language and State: A Theory of into the Progress of Civilization, Second Edition, Friesen Press in Altona, MB, Canada,2022 isbn=978-1-03--912517-9

I hope that the related contents can be added to the entry called the state in Wikipedia. 于星 (talk) 02:12, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Note that 于星 disclosed that they are Xing Yu at Wikipedia:Teahouse#Why was my editing reverted shortly after I did editing? GoingBatty (talk) 05:26, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

According to Google Scholar, this book Language and State: A Theory of into the Progress of Civilization has been cited only seven times, and three have to do with the niche topic of digital scanning of soiled bamboo scrolls from ancient China. It seems that the book's argument that the emergence of human language caused the development of political states has had no known impact on political science, linguistics or anthropology. The mainstream theories say that human speech and language emerged 250,000 to 100,00 years ago, but that political states emerged about 5,500 years ago, probably in Mesopotamia. I see no reason to cite this book in this article. Cullen328 (talk) 06:22, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Please see WP:SELFPUBLISH. Esowteric + Talk + Breadcrumbs 16:05, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Prehistory and states

"For most of prehistory people lived in stateless societies." This claim does not seem to be supported by any evidence. Jorge Stolfi (talk) 22:43, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

Suggested deletion of the "Structural universe of the state..." subsection

I suggest that this subsection, located under "Theories of state function", be deleted. It seems to be based on original and self-published research that does not meet the criteria of scientific relevance. The reference currently linked to is not a specific work, but the page of a independent researcher, Gianno Roca. He does not appear to be a known scholar in any field relating to the article's subject, and I could not trace any other citations of his works. Furthermore, the subsection in question is quite confusingly phrased and very difficult to read, its subject and relevance in the article are not clear (it seems to try to develop both a definition of the state and a cyclical history theory of its appearance) and it lacks any other sources.

I avoided deleting it myself because it seems to be the result of a 5-year old edit (17:51, 19 June 2020).

See Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published sources and Wikipedia:No original research JeanGulberg (talk) 17:03, 8 March 2026 (UTC)