The state in analytical and normative profile

Abstract

The organization of the state engages many variables. The state may be organized as an agent or as an apparatus of rules. If it is organized as an agent, it may be disciplined by popular or elite control. If it is popularly controlled, the control may involve a mixed or unmixed constitution, and if it operates under a mixed constitution, a legislative majority may be given a privileged role, as in parliamentary systems, or denied such a role, as in presidential. The delineation and adjudication of those possibilities presents an interesting analytical-cum-normative challenge and one that connects intriguingly with the history of political thought.