Introduction

Historians discuss states and the people who live in them. “State” is a broad term. States may be ruled by kings, religious leaders, or democratically elected officials. States come in many sizes, from large empires to small city- states. The citizens of a state might have many rights or almost no rights at all.

Today the world is almost entirely divided into state and almost every person belongs to a state. However, in the past many people did not live in states.

To explore why states came into existence, we will consider definitions of the term. We will also look at theories about how the first states began.

What is a state? 

State is the formal term we use to describe a country. The state is usually defined as an organized community living under a unified political system or government. States usually claim control over a defined territory, although there are some examples in history of states that move around. The people running a state claim authority over a group of people. The state makes and enforces laws.

People who don’t have states still have ways to make decisions. Usually, the process of making decisions is less formal. The decisions themselves tend to be less permanent. Some scholars argue that a state is defined by having a formal and complex system of government.

Some anthropologists suggest that states must have at least four levels of government. These levels govern the nation, city, neighborhood, and village or family.

Some scholars argue that this definition is not enough to describe a state. They say that states are the first communities too big for everyone to know each other. The people in a state believe they are connected to others. They can imagine the entire state even when they can’t see it. People in a state share a unified belief. That belief might be that the king has a god-like right to rule, or that Congress has the right to collect taxes. For these scholars, the state is people’s belief that they are part of the same community as others in the state--even if they are far away.

Characteristics of early states

Today, most of us think of states as the reason we can elect our government. Yet early in human history people believed they belonged to a state where the government had authority over them. Few people believed they had the right to select government officials. So, what traits defined a state? Historians and other scholars have suggested a list of characteristics that most early states shared.

Here are six characteristics frequently included in these lists:

• Urban – Most early states had cities.
• Agricultural – Almost all states were built in farming societies.
• Occupational specialization – Within states, there are some people who do not work as farmers. Many people were instead artisans like leather- workers, metal-workers, and cloth-makers.
• Complex economy – States often emerged when an economy becomes large and complicated.
• Social stratification – In most early states, people were not equal. There were differences in wealth and social status.
• State authority – The government of a state claims the authority to make and enforce laws.

Why did humans create states?

States are important now, but modern humans existed without them for about 245,000 years. So, why did humans create states? In general, there are two broad explanations for the rise of states. Although these explanations seem to contradict each other, it is possible that both are correct.

The first explanation is called the “coercive theory.” Some historians argue that states arise because a group of people wants to control others. For example, a small group might want to have more wealth and do less work. To accomplish this, they create laws and recruit an army to force others to farm on their behalf. The coercers become the government. The state might then coerce other governments into giving up their own resources.

The second explanation is often called “voluntary theory” and has several versions. In one version, humans found that they needed to do work that required cooperation. For example, people might need to build an irrigation system to grow crops better. They created the state to get people to work together. Another version suggests that communities found they needed rules. To make sure trading was done fairly, reduce violence, and enforce agreements, people wanted laws and social order. Only a state can effectively provide that.

In order to test these theories, historians look at specific examples of states, especially early states. They evaluate whether the models fit the examples.

Table 1 Early states, regions, and eras

The state has been important to human history, so we focus on it. Yet not everyone in history lived in a state. As historians, we have to wonder whether concentrating on the state makes us miss out on the important experiences and contributions of people who did not live in states. We also must consider the problems that states have caused. Are states a step forward, or would we have been better off without them? However, the state was certainly a key element of human history, and remains important today. It is useful to study the history of states.