Students of American politics rarely, if ever, encounter the concept of the “state.” The separation of power that characterizes the American political system invites the use of a different terminology than the one associated with political systems that emerged in the Old World and the regions of the world colonized by these powers. The state, therefore, is a concept that is more prominent in the fields of comparative politics and international relations. Occasional efforts to avoid the use of the concept in comparative politics, for example, by the comparativists in the 1960s using a structural-functionalist approach, have never succeeded. It has always rebounded and continues to be prominent in the study of politics in all regions outside the United States.

A state emerges in response to needs that groups in society have. These needs may emanate from problems with security, welfare, or resolving conflicting demands on scarce resources. Those who occupy positions in the state do so in ways that make them different from the public because their positions carry an element of authority whether that authority was delegated to them or grabbed in the course of dealing with the problem. States historically differ in complexity. Early historical states were quite rudimentary, often the mere extension of the household of a king. More recent examples, notably the welfare state in developed societies, are intricate creations in which citizens as a collectivity have delegated responsibility for much of their daily lives to officials whom they trust will act in their common interests.