Bangladesh University of Professionals

Assignment on
A comparative study between
State and citizens

Submitted to:
Prof.Dr. Anisuzzaman
Government and Politics
Department of law.

Submitted by:
Sayed Hasan Khan Patan
Section: A
ID#17011645
Roll#17421111
Program: LL.B. (Hons)

Date of Submission: 18 September,2017

 State and citizen
Introduction:

Man lives in society. Citizen and citizenship are closely related to the state. The
success of a state depends on good citizens. So it is indispensable for all to have
knowledge about citizenship. It is a natural instinct of man to live together with
others as a social being. He forms the society by the demand of nature and
necessity. And the man of society form different types of institutions for special
purposes. The state is a special type of institution. Among all the institutions of the
society the most important organization is the state. This chapter describes
definition of citizenship, methods of acquiring citizenship, rights of the citizen,
duties of the citizen, qualities of the good citizen. It also describes the different
aspects of state. Lets go through the chapter step by step and know about
citizenship and state.
Definition of State and Citizen:

State:
In common Parlance State is a country considered as an organized Political
community by one government. Sometimes, a republic or federations forming part
of a country are also called states where as they can't be termed as states in
political sense. Anyhow when we used the term state in the field of international
relation, it has the symbolic sense of signifying the existence of an independent
sovereign entity.
Willoughby says, state is "where there can be discovered in any community of
persons a supreme authority exercising control over the, social actions of
individuals and groups of individuals and itself subject to no such regulation."

Salmond defines it "a society of men established for the maintenance of order and
justice within a determined territory, by way of force." To sum up, we can define
state as a society of people politically organized within a definite territory, having
its own government with coercive power to enforce obedience and which is free
from external control.

The elements of a state is four in number :

1. Population,
2. Definite territory,
3; government
4. Sovereignty.

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A state is formed with these four elements.

The Functions of the State

According to political scientists Willoughby, Gettell, Gilchrist the functions of the
modern welfare states can be divided into two classes:
1) Essential or Main functions 2) Welfare or Optional functions
1. Essential or Main functions:
To maintain the existence, independence and sovereignty of the state and to protect
the rights of the people the functions performed by the state are called the essential
function
2. Welfare or optional functions:
The optional functions of the state are as follows:
1. To spread education.
2. To maintain public health.
3. Development of industry and commerce.
4. To maintain communication.
5. Welfare of the workers.
6. Social security.
7. Public works.

Citizen:

Person who is entitled to enjoy all the legal rights and privileges granted by a state
to the people comprising its constituency, and is obligated to obey its laws and to
fulfill his or duties as called upon.
The Rights of the Citizen

In civics the word right is used in special sense. The benefits which the man enjoys
as a member of a state are called rights. These rights are indispensably necessary
for the welfare of the individual and society. The citizens enjoy these rights given
by the state and by the help and support of the state.

"Rights in fact are those privileges of social life without which no man can seek in
general to be himself at his best" says Laski.

The classification of rights: The rights are generally divided into two broad

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categories as: moral right and legal right. The legal right is again divided into two
divisions, such as; social right and political right. The classification of rights is
shown below in a diagram.

Moral Right Legal Right: Social Right & Political Right.

The main Social rights are given below:

1.Right to security of life

2.Right to property
3. The right to movement
4. Right to express opinion
5.Freedom of the Press
6. Right to hold meeting
7. Right of contract
8. Right to form family
9. Right to religion
10. Right to work
11. Equality in the eye of law
12. Right to health and education
13. Right to culture and language

Political Right
Some important political rights are given below:

1. Right to live
2. Right to election
3. Right to security during the stay in foreign land
4. Right to get government service
5. Right to apply
6. Right to individual freedom

Difference between State and Citizen:

A study of exact relationship between state and citizen is the fundamental concern
of political science. For state wants maximum authority and citizen wants
maximum liberty. However, it is impossible. Some sort of compromise has to be
made between the two. Reasonable power and authority should be made available

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to the state for its smooth functioning. Reasonable liberty should be available to
the citizen for the best development of his personality.
In this sense, both state and citizen are not opposed to each other. On the other
hand, they are made for each other. The aim of the state is to provide good
environment to the citizen for the development of his personality. The aim of the
citizen is to enjoy reasonable liberty within the state.
Hence, the state is the larger copy of the citizens and the interest of citizens is not
in conflict with the state. The citizen depends on the state not only for safety, law
and order alone but also for facilities like the post and telegraph, communication,
railway, education, etc.
The citizen enjoys a special position in the state. Every one living within the
territory of a state is not its citizen. A citizen is one who enjoys both civil and
political rights which are guaranteed and recognized by the state. He can go to a
court of law if some of these rights (Fundamental Rights) are denied to him. He is
loyal to the state. He is inspired by certain duties towards the state.
In a word, rights and duties define the relationship between the state and the
citizen. Moreover, he regards state as his "mother land". In addition, he is ever
prepared to sacrifice his life for the sake of his motherland. The role of natural as
well as naturalized citizen towards the stale has become a hot issue today. In the
USA. the naturalized citizen are debarred from holding the highest office of the
state. But in India, there is no such distinction between the natural and naturalized
citizens. However, some Indians advocate for depriving the naturalized citizens of
their right to hold the highest office of the state.
Another aspect of citizenship is that citizens are expected to participate in the
affairs of the State. It is in this sense that a distinction is made between a 'citizen'
and 'subject'. In non-democratic states like the absolute monarchy, the people who
were within the preview of the laws of states were known as subjects.
They were bound to obey the decisions of the state, but they had little say in the
making of such decisions. Citizenship in a democracy grants its citizens rights to
participate in the affairs of the state. Right to vote in elections is an inseparable and
important right of citizens in democracies.
Every citizen, however, cannot participate to the same extent in all affairs of the
State. The extent of participation is often regarded as an important feature of a
democracy. Good citizens obey the laws of the state and punitive actions are taken
against those who do not obey laws of the state. Laski has rightly said that the
'citizens' sense of justice' makes a good state.

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Conclusion:
Citizen and citizenship are closely related to the state. The relationship between the
citizen and the state is that both are independent to each other. success of a state
depends on good citizens. So it is indispensable for all to have knowledge about
citizenship. It is a natural instinct of man to live together with others as a social
being. He forms the society by the demand of nature and necessity. And the man of
society form different types of institutions for special purposes. The state is a
special type of institution. Among all the institutions of the society the most
important organization is the state. This chapter describes definition of citizenship,
methods of acquiring citizenship, rights of the citizen, duties of the citizen,
qualities of the good citizen. It also describes the different aspects of state. Lets go
through the chapter step by step and know about citizenship and state.