A comparative study of the position of the state in contemporary political theory (a case study of anarchist and communitarianism theories)

Seyed saeed Mosavi ¹ ( Phd student in the field of political thought .Faculty of Law.Theology and Political Science. Science and Resea Branrch.Islamic Azad University.Tehran.Iran )
majid tavasoli ² ( Associate Professor.Department of International Relations. Facalty of Law.Theology and Political Sciences.Science and Reserch Branch Islamic Azad University.Tehran.Iran. )
Keyhan Barzegar ³ ( Associate Professor .َDepartment of Political Sciences.Science and Reserch Branch Islamic Azad University.Tehran.Iran. )

Submited date : 2023-07-26 Accepted date : 2023-09-10

Keywords: State position, political theory, and anarchist and communitarianism theories,

Abstract :

The concept of the state from the point of view of its nature, origin, purpose and limits of authority and responsibility towards the individual and the society is one of the most controversial issues that has always been the battle of theorizing in political science and philosophy. What the origin and nature of the state is and what its function are issues that have been continuously debated from classical philosophical theories, theological theories of the middle ages of the West, modern theories of the 17th and 18th centuries to contemporary theories, especially anarchist and communitarianism, ones, in various aspects. Therefore, the comparison of the role and position of "government" in contemporary political theory with emphasis on anarchist and communitarianism, theories is the main problem of the present research. In the present research, documentary and library methods were used to collect information, and analytical and interpretive methods were used to judge and interpret the collected information. In the article, the question is raised that by applying a comparative approach, how can the position of "government" be explained in two theoretical traditions, i.e. anarchist and communitarianism,st? The findings of the article indicate that anarchism is opposed to government order, the replacement of administrative order, favoring the free competition of individuals and opposing social justice. Therefore, the ideal political system of anarchist thought is the realization of a free society based on equality and social ownership, while the communitarianism, just the opposite of anarchists, are against the neutrality of the government, believe in the "policy of the public good", the primacy of the public good over individual freedom, and defend the realization of social justice and the limitation of the free competition of individuals and the realization of the public good by relying on creating multicultural universities.