Wysgerige onderskeidinge relevant vir 'n besinning oor staat en samelewing met besondere verwysing na Koos Malan se politokrasie

Abstract

Recently reflections on state and society were enriched by the contributions of various authors in Afrikaans. Of particular interest in this regard is a work written by Koos Malan (professor in Constitutional Law). It displays a positive appreciation of the Greek polis which provides a starting-point for his discussion of the ecclesiastically unified culture of the Medieval era. He points out that the term "state" emerged fairly recently, preceded by earlier designations such as realm, body politic, commonwealth, civitas and republic. In his definition of "staatlikheid" ("stateliness") the intention is to capture key traits of the ideology of the state. In some instances stateliness and state are equated. When the element "territory" is added to the concept of the "state" the idea of the "territorial state" emerges.