Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
Conditions for the existence of a State and a Government
Every State must have a Government. Possessing a Government is one of four conditions requisite of statehood, conjointly with (i) territory, (ii) nation, i.e. population, and (iii) sovereignty, viz. independence. ‘[T]he existence of an effective and independent government is the essence of statehood’. The Government is the instrumentality through which the State – a legal personality – acts and functions (both internally and externally), exercising its rights and discharging its duties.
The powers of governance in a State are usually divided between a central authority – with jurisdiction over the entire national territory – and multiple regional (in a federal State, provincial-cantonal) as well as local authorities vested with competence within prescribed areas. Whichever way powers are allocated, the Government of a State (in the comprehensive sense of the term) must fulfil two cumulative conditions under international law: (i) independence from any other Government; and (ii) effective control over the State's territory.
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