Topic 1 The main concepts about state, law and state- legal phenomena
Purpose: to acquaint with the main concepts of the theory of the state and law.
Plan:
1 The state: the concept, characteristic features and its functions.
2 Form of state:
- form of government;
- form of state structure;
- form of the political regime.
3 Form of state – the Republic of Kazakhstan.
4 Law: concept, features, system. Hierarchy of Kazakhstan legislation.
1 State: the concept, characteristic features and its functions.
State is a unified political organization of society which extends the power to all territory of the country and its population, enacts binding commands for all, has for this purpose administrative machinery and possesses the sovereignty.
Characteristic features of state
- sovereignty
- people
- territory
- state symbols
- taxes and levies
- citizenship
- enforcing authorities
- laws
Functions of state
Internal functions
a) protection of the rights and freedoms of the person and citizen;
b) protection of forms of ownership;
c) providing law order;
d) the ecological (environmental);
e) the economic;
e) the social;
g) development of scientific- and- technical progress;
h) taxation.
External functions
a) conducting aggressive wars (annexation wars);
b) protection of the country against attack from the outside, defence of country;
c) peacekeeping;
d) mutually advantageous trade;
e) the decision together with other states of world problems.
2 Form of state
The form of state is the structural organization of society expressed in the form of government in the form of state structure and in the form of a political regime.
Form of government– it is structure of the highest agency of state power, the order of their creation and distribution of powers between them.
A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single individual (the monarch).
Types of a monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Dual monarchy
A Parliamentary monarchy
A republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a "public matter" (Latin: res publica), not the private concern or property of the rulers, and where offices of state are subsequently directly or indirectly elected or appointed rather than inherited. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.
Types of a republic
A parliamentary republic
A presidential republic
A mixed republics
Form of state structure– the administrative- and- territorial structure of the state characterizing relationship between central and local state authorities.
A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions (subnational units) exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate. The great majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government.
A federation (Latin: foedus, foederis,), also known as a federal state, is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, are typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the latter.
A confederation(or confederacy), in modern political terms, is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units.[1] Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues (such as defense, foreign affairs, or a common currency), with the central government being required to provide support for all members.
Form of the political regime – set of methods and ways of exercising of the state power.
A democratic regime refers to a democratically elected government. It is a form of government whose representatives acquired their mandate and power from the people either directly through a referendum or through their democratically elected representatives.
The antidemocraticregime
has some types: tyranny, totalitarianism,
fascism etc.
The antidemocratic regime has some features:
a) domination of one political party;
b) existence of one official ideology;
c) as a rule, domination of one form of ownership;
d) minimizing or elimination of any political rights and freedoms;
e) stratification of society onto classts, estates and castes;
e) low economic level of the peoples" life;
g) emphasis on punitive measures and concussions;
h) aggression in foreign policy, etc.
The legal (rule-of- law) state is the organization of the political power, creating conditions for the fullest ensuring the rights and freedoms of the person and the citizen, and also for the consecutive restriction by means of the law of the government for prevention of offenses.