The Concept of the State
This chapter presents an account of the juristic concept of the state. It first explains how, through a series of protracted struggles over its meaning, the idea of the state emerged and it shows how, within this historical account, the state is inextricably linked to the concept of sovereignty. The specifically juristic concept is then elaborated through an account of the 19th-century German discipline of Staatslehre and, especially through its elaboration of the three fundamental elements of territory, ruling authority, and people, its general influence in 20th-century legal thought. The chapter argues that the juristic concept of the state is best understood to form an scheme of intelligibility and it offers a key to understanding the nature of public law.
Keywords: sovereignty, Staatslehre, community, society, state
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