Modern Concept of State

Modern concept of state is absolutely different from that of the ancient times and of Medieval
Europe. Briefly, it is secular, national and legal. We shall now consider each of these
characteristics of the modern state in some detail. The main features of modern state are as
follows:

1) Secularism:
By secular concept of the state is meant that the state is separate from religion. It means, in
other words, that the state has nothing to do with religion, while religion, i.e. church or
Mullah, is not allowed to interfere in the matters of politics and state. A secular state is not
necessarily an irreligious state, but it believes that religion is a private affair of state is
different from the Greek concept of state which was ethical, and from the medieval concept,
which was deeply religious, as we have explained regarding Augustine's concept of the state
above.

Secularism is a modern concept, which first came into being in the West during the early
years of the twentieth century, when politics was separated from religion in almost all the
Western countries. However, the idea of secular state was first propounded by Machiavelli.
But it did not bring about real secularism, i.e., complete separation of religion and state, for
he advocated that the ruler use religion for his political purposes. Secularist ideas were first
expressed by the thinkers and philosophers of the 'Age of Enlightenment' in France during the
eighteenth century. They asserted that church and state should be separated from each other.
However, it was in the twentieth century that secular states came into being in Europe and
America. Afterwards, the idea of secular state spread to some of the newly independent states
in Asia and Africa when they were liberated from centuries of Western imperialist domination
after the Second World War, such as Egypt, Iraq, Syria, India, etc However, in the case of
India, secularism has become a political play or propaganda, for the policies, acts and laws of
the so-called secularist India.

2) Nationalism:
Modern state is a national or nation state. What is a nation? A nation is a people united by the
bonds of common language, religion, culture, or race, and common historical experience,
aspiring to establish or maintain their separate and independent state. In other words, a
nation-state means a people who are conscious of their separate and independent national
identity under their separate and independent state. As such, a nation-state has two
component elements: objective and subjective. Objective factors are common geography or
territory, common language, religion, culture and common historical experience of national
liberation struggles, past and present, while the subjective elements are the psychological
factors of national feelings and consciousness. As a matter of fact, the psychological elements
of nationhood are more important than the objective ones. It is not mountains and valleys,
said Dankwart A. Rustow, that make a people a nation; it is their consciousness of being a
nation that makes them so.

Nation-State is a modern phenomenon. In the past ages, the people of a state never felt to be a
nation, for they were divided into various tribes, clans, races, local communities or cities, etc.
Loyalty was primarily to these lesser units or groups, and secondarily and in a limited manner
to the king or emperor. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the Christian church produced the
concept of universal community of Christianity, in which the loyalty was at once to the state
in matters concerning the state and towards the church concerning religion. As a matter of
fact, the rise of the national states in Europe in the modern time was a revolt against this
concept of universal Christian community, preached by the Catholic Church in the middle
Ages. England and France were the first national or nation states, which came into being
during the Hundred Year War which raged between them during the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. Next Spain and Portugal became nation-states due to their wars against the Spanish
Muslims. But their national states became stunted owing to the overriding influence of the
Catholic Church and Inquisition. Next Holland became a nation state. After the French
Revolution of 1789, several central and southern European nation states came into being,
such as Germany, Italy, etc. The idea of nationalism then spread into Eastern Europe, when
several nation states came into being in consequence of their wars against the Ottoman
Empire. After the Second World War, nationalism spread in Asia and Africa, where nearly
sixty nation states, e.g., India, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, and
others were established. At present, the UN consists of about 195 nation states. Nevertheless
there are still several multi-national states, like the ex-USSR (now Russia), the UK, the ex-
Union of South Africa (now Republic of South Africa), etc. Moreover, many nation states
have also several ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities within their boundaries, such as
Pakistan, Israel, India, etc. As a matter of fact, there is no nation state in the world today,
which has not a minority or ethnic group in it. This fact adds an element of political tension
and instability in the nation state, which has, in some cases, led to revolts and national
liberation struggles, such as those of the Tamils in Sir Lanka, of Sikhs in India, of the Blacks
in South Africa, or the Christians in Sudan or of the Palestinians in Israel.

3) Legalism:
Modern state is based upon law. Law means a general rule of external conduct, passed and
enforced by the state. Law is an instrument of social control to prevent conflict, violence, and
crimes in society over such matters as property, life and limb, honour and individual or group
interests. But law cannot exist without the coercive authority of the state and its
administrative and judicial systems. In other words, laws are authoritative norms, made and
enforced by the state. As such, law is a statement of rights and duties of the citizens.

Law is, however, a modern concept, especially with regard to its two aspects: (i) legislative
enactment and (ii) universal enforcement. It is applied to citizens regardless of differences of
class, social status, wealth or rank. Subordination to law of all the people, whether rich or
poor, high or low, is known as Rule of Law. In the past ages, law was not taken in this sense.
In ancient times, law was only the custom upheld by the kings' authority. It had really
originated in the tribes and local communities, which later came to be ruled by the kings or
the like. In such conditions, the very idea of law being made by a legislative body was
unknown. Moreover, law was then considered to apply to human as well as to non-human
beings. Furthermore, law and morality were then not clearly distinguished.

Modern state and law have grown together. This development really began when the
legislative system, acquired the exclusive power to make laws, first in English Parliament
during the eighteenth century. Later on, other European states also set up legislative bodies,
variously called as National Assembly as in France, Congress as in the USA, Reichstag or
Bundestag as in Germany, or Cortes as in Spain, etc. In the twentieth century, when
independent and sovereign states came into being in Asia and Africa, they too set up their
own legislative bodies, named differently. For instance, in India and Pakistan, where the
British tradition is still very strong, it is usually called parliament; in Iran it is called Majlis,
and so on. It may be mentioned, however, that the sources of laws lies not in the legislative
organ of the state, but in the social, economic, cultural, historical and other conditions, norms
and values of the people and in their ordinary day-to-day experiences and interactions.