State and (or) evolution: problems of juristic reasoning on the state concepts, on the origin and development of the states (part one)

Abstract

The article is devoted to a number of problematic issues of conceptualizing the state and is aimed at overcoming common errors in reasoning on this phenomenon, on its features, elements, functions and other characteristics, on the classifications of states, on the origin of the state and on the evolutionism in its development and in the development of its notion.

In the first part of the article the author analyzes the emergence and expanse of the term “state”, the differences in its use in different languages and the specifics in perception of the state in different cultures. He substantiates the naturalness and inevitability of problems in defining the state, analyzes typical approaches to its understanding, argues the unsuitability of legal definitions of the state for revealing its essence and the need to focus on drawing up practically functional legal constructions.