The Rise and Decline of the Notion of State

The evolution of the use of the concept of "state" from the sixteenth century to the present leads one to observe that the theory of the state has now lost normative and prescriptive value. Furthermore, the very notion of state has ceased to be a good analytical tool in that the function of government has evolved toward diffusion rather than concentration. The state is no longer the unifying force it once was. Other factors, language in particular, now perform the unification function previously performed by the state.