A political organization that successfully claims a monopoly of legitimate force within a defined territory is a state. It maintains order, extracts resources, and provides collective goods through institutionalized government.

States possess permanent administrative staffs, defined borders, and recognition by other states. They vary from strong and capable to fragile or failed. State formation historically involved warfare, taxation, and the gradual expansion of administrative reach. Contemporary states face challenges from globalization, non-state armed groups, and sometimes from their own societies.

The state is distinct from the government of the day and from the nation as a cultural community. Continuity of the state through changes of government is a mark of institutionalization. Political science treats the state as both an actor in international relations and the central structure of domestic politics.

Where the state’s monopoly of force collapses, politics reverts toward private power and insecurity.