332 THEORY AND ADMINISTRATION 



To some writers both of early and later periods, political life is 

 innate, and man is man only as he is political. It should be observed 

 that among those using somewhat similar terms in regard to this 

 basis of the state in the nature of man, there is often a wide difference 

 in the content of these terms. Some draw one conclusion along 

 the lines of a natural law as the basis of the state and others another. 

 Some base the state in might or force and enter upon the elaborate 

 explanations to account for the source of this force which they 

 claim makes the state possible. 



The theory that the state is the product of " natural law " gave 

 to the term " natural law " and its various modifications the most 

 divergent interpretations. 



The same may be said of the attempts to base the state in a " so- 

 cial contract." 



That there are still problems in regard to the origin of the state 

 will be evident in the comparison of the points of view of almost any 

 of the recent discussions upon the subject. Some even question the 

 right of the state to be. 



These problems have occupied so much of the space in the books 

 upon political topics that more than a mere mention of the fact that 

 the problem of origin still remains seems unnecessary. 



These theories as to the origin of the state serve to show that 

 there is a problem for the political philosopher in the distinction of 

 causes of political phenomena from conditions of political phenom- 

 ena. It is possible that had this question been earlier raised, politi- 

 cal theory would have been more advanced. The attempt to account 

 for non-political facts by political causation has been common in 

 the field of theory. A clear discrimination between the phenomena 

 that condition and those that cause political activity removes many 

 difficulties. Not all theorists would agree in regard to the respective 

 categories. It is probable, however, that to most investigators 

 soil, climate, configuration of the land and sea-lines would, in gen- 

 eral, condition political development. The solution of the problem 

 of placing conditioning phenomena in their proper relations is one 

 which will bear valuable results. The elimination to a great extent 

 of time and space in human relations has removed conditions favor- 

 able to the individualistic theory of the state and furnished new 

 problems. 



Before discussing further problems, it seems fitting that a 

 question that logically might have been raised earlier should be 

 proposed, viz. : What is the state as the subject about which political 

 theory centers? 



The problem of definition is not a simple one. There are many 

 excellent descriptions of a state which contain an enumeration of 

 such of the conditions of state existence as seem to the given writer 



