Relationship between state and society?

Question

i am studing Political Sociology and theres a hot debate in my circle that "what is the relationship between state and society...who has the superiority over other?"

let me know your views pls

PS: scholarly views are more welcomed :)

Answer 1

I would approach this issue from the view point of Social contract theory (Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke, Rawls etc).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cont...

Try to base your answer on examples from around the world, E.g Burma vs U.K. Think about how the relationship changes over time (Nepal's a good example right now - history of monarchy rule now being challenged by society via parliament and maoist rebels).

Might be a good idea to think about what factors help society to have more influence over the state - (institions - Eg. Powerful media, stong independent legal system, Universities , seperation of powers also comes into play (armed forces etc)).

Try to demonstrate that in any one country the relationship will be different for diff. groups. E.g Newspaper editors will have a diff. relationship to the state than school cleaners (access to info and ability to influence etc).

sorry dont have time for more info, i gotta go.....

Answer 2

This is an extremely interesting question. Arguing state is superior to society and the vice-versa may end up as a chicken and egg argument, in my opinion.  To put it briefly, state is the outcome of an organized society or a society that needs some level of organization. I say this because there was period in hum history where things operated under the milieu of "statelessness." Once state started to take shape,  I believe, the level, nature and philosophy of state depend on the culture of a particular society.  The question is why do we need state? In order to avoid complexity and circular academic debate, state is crafted to normalize the day to day activities of a society.  In order to undertake such routines, state work under the rule of law which stipulates what is good and is not good for the society. Laws are constantly revised,  modified and updated.  State is therefore (granted) to use physical force to produce social order. Even if people do have a tendency to disobey the rule, break the rules or say evade taxes we refrain from such antisocial behavior most of the time because we know the consequences.  This is the intersection where it seems that state is superior and omnipresent. There are times when we do not want to see cops but we all know that we cannot live without the active presence of the police. We feel secure when we see cops during the evening than during the day. What is now in the making is a situation where state and society are inextricably related.  Therefore, for me, the relationship between state and society is like marriage but the problem with this kind of marriage is that it is difficult to break up with minimal harm to both parties.  Instead of arguing which one is on top it is better to understand and appreciate how both are interrelated.  Society proposed to form a state and its structure, and it is the state which is running the society. Society can modify and change the state too.