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Śramana, Vol. 57, No.2
April-June 2006
POLITICAL ASPECT OF NON-VIOLENCE
Dr. B.N. Sinha*
Political Science deals with state and its different functions and relations. Garies has defined political science, as
"Political Science considers the state, as an institution of power, in the totality of its relations, its origin, its setting (land and people), its object, its ethical significance, its economic problems, its life conditions, its financial side, its end etc. In short Gamer has told - Political Science begins and ends with the State"
A state consists of the following essential elements - i) Population ii) Territory iii) Government iv) Sovereignty
i) Population - No State can be imagined without population. It is population which establishes the state but members of few families are not sufficient to organize a state. It requires a large number of people. Plato, a great Greek philosopher has asserted that an ideal state should have five thousand and forty men, for its establishment. According to Aristotle the population of a state should neither be too large nor too small, so that it may be controlled efficiently. Rousseau, a modern social philosopher who has supported the direct democracy has assigned that an ideal state consists of ten thousand persons living in it.'
ii) Territory - A particular territory is also needed by a state * Former Reader, Deptt. of Philosophy, M.G. Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi Senior Fellow, I.C.P.R., New Delhi.
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