If a nation is defined as 'Community of Communities', which term can be suitably given to a body that successfully claims a monopoly of legitimate force in a particular territory?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → State
Option (1) Community — Incorrect. A community is a group bound by birth and belonging, such as a shared language or religion; a nation is a community of communities. A community does not claim the use of force over a territory.
Option (3) State — Correct. In Max Weber’s well-known definition, a state is a ‘body that successfully claims a monopoly of legitimate force in a particular territory’. It is a set of political-legal institutions claiming control over a geographical territory and the people living in it, and a nation usually aspires to form one.
NCERT (2025-26): “Communities, Nations and Nation-States … At the simplest level, a nation is a sort of large-scale community – it is a community of communities. Members of a nation share the desire to be part of the same political collectivity. This desire for political unity usually expresses itself as the aspiration to form a state. In its most general sense, the term state refers to an abstract entity consisting of a set of political-legal institutions claiming control over a particular geographical territory and the people living in it. In Max Weber’s well-known definition, a state is a ‘body that successfully claims a monopoly of legitimate force in a particular territory’ (Weber 1970:78).…” |