BLACK’S 1st

Commonwealth. The public or common weal or welfare. This cannot be regarded as a technical term of public law, though often used in political science. It generally designates, when so employed, a republican frame of government,- one in which the welfare and rights of the entire mass of people are the main consideration, rather than the privileges of a class or the will of a monarch ; or it may designate the body of citizens living under such a government. Sometimes it may denote the corporate entity, or the government, or a jural society (or state) possessing powers of self-government in respect of its immediate concerns, but forming an integral part of a larger government, (or nation.) In this latter sense', it is the official title of several of the United States, (us Pennsylvania and Massachusetts,) and would be appropriate to them all. In the former sense, the word was used to designate the English government during the protectorate of Cromwell. See GOVERNMENT; NATION; STATE.

BLACK’S 6th

Commonwealth. The public or common weal or welfare. This cannot be regarded as a technical term of public law, though often used in political science. It generally designates, when so employed, a republican frame of government,- one in which the welfare and rights of the entire mass of people are the main consideration, rather than the privileges of a class or the will of a monarch; or it may designate the body of citizens living under such a government. Sometimes it may denote the corporate entity, or the government, of a jural society (or state) possessing powers of self-government in respect of its immediate concerns, but forming an integral part of a larger government (or nation). In this latter sense, it is the official title of several of the United States (as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Kentucky), and would be appropriate to them all. In the former sense, the word was used to designate the English government during the protectorate of Cromwell. Any of the individual States of the United States and the body of people constituting a state or politically organized community, a body politic, hence, a state, especially one constituted by a number of persons united by compact or tacit agreement under one form of government and system of laws. Detres v. Lions Bldg. Corp., C.A.I11., 234 F.2d 596, 600. See Government; Nation; State.

BLACK’S 8th

Commonwealth. 1. A nation, state, or other political unit <the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania>. [Cases: States 1. C.J.S. States §§ 2, 16.] 2. A political unit that has local autonomy but is voluntarily united with the United States <Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are commonwealths>. Cf. DEPENDENCY (1); INSULAR AREA; TERRITORY (2).3. A loose association of countries that recognize one sovereign <the British Commonwealth>. • In this context, in Great Britain, the term British has been dropped from British Commonwealth; BrE speakers refer simply to the Commonwealth. — Abbr. Commw.; comm. 4. The central (federal) power in Australia. — Abbr. (in sense 4) Cwth.

BLACK’S 9th

Commonwealth. (15c) 1. A nation, state, or other political unit <the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania>. [Cases: States 1.] 2. A political unit that has local autonomy but is voluntarily united with the United States <Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands are commonwealths>. Cf. DEPENDENCY (1); INSULAR AREA; TERRITORY (2). 3. A loose association of countries that recognize one sovereign <the British Commonwealth>. • In this context, in Great Britain, the term British has been dropped from British Commonwealth; BrE speakers refer simply to the Commonwealth. Abbr. Commw.; comm. 4. The central (federal) power in Australia. Abbr. (in sense 4) Cwth.

BLACK’S 1st

Republic. A commonwealth; a state m which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged in representatives elected by the people. Webster. In a wider sense, the state, the common weal, the whole organized political community, without reference to the form of government.

BLACK’S 6th

Republic. A commonwealth; that form of government in which the administration of affairs is open to all the citizens. In another sense, it signifies the state, independently of its form of government.

BLACK’S 8th

Republic, n. A system of government in which the people hold sovereign power and elect representatives who exercise that power. • It contrasts on the one hand with a pure democracy, in which the people or community as an organized whole wield the sovereign power of government, and on the other with the rule of one person (such as a king or dictator) or of an elite group (such as an oligarchy, aristocracy, or junta). — Abbr. rep. Cf. DEMOCRACY. — Republican, adj.

“A republic is a government which (a) derives all of its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people and (b) is administered by persons holding their office during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior.” Robert A. Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory 10 (1956).

BLACK’S 9th

Republic, n. A system of government in which the people hold sovereign power and elect representatives who exercise that power. • It contrasts on the one hand with a pure democracy, in which the people or community as an organized whole wield the sovereign power of government, and on the other with the rule of one person (such as a king or dictator) or of an elite group (such as an oligarchy, aristocracy, or junta). — Abbr. rep. Cf. DEMOCRACY. — Republican, adj.

"A republic is a government which (a) derives all of its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people and (b) is ad ministered by persons

holding their office during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior." Robert A. Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory 10 (1956).

BLACK’S 1st

State, n. A body politic, or society of men, united together for the purpose of promoting their mutual safety and advantage, by the joint efforts of their combined strength. Cooley, Const. Lim. 1. One or the component commonwealths or states of the United States of America. The people of a state, in their collective capacity, considered as the party wronged by a criminal deed; the public; as in the title of a cause, "The State vs. A. B." The section of territory occupied by one of the United States.

BLACK’S 6th

State, n. A people permanently occupying a fixed territory bound together by common-law habits and custom into one body politic exercising, through the medium of an organized government, independent sovereignty and control over all persons and things within its boundaries, capable of making war and peace and of entering into international relations with other communities of the globe. United States v. Kusche, D.C.Cal., 56 F.Supp. 201, 207, 208. The organization of social life which exercises sovereign power in behalf of the people. Delany v. Moraitis, C.C.A.Md., 136 F.2d 129, 130. In its largest sense, a "state" is a body politic or a society of men. Beagle v. Motor Vehicle Acc. Indemnification Corp., 44 Misc.2d 636, 254 N.Y.S.2d 763, 765. A body of people occupying a definite territory and politically organized under one government. State ex reI. Maisano v. Mitchell, 155 Conn. 256, 231 A.2d 539, 542. A territorial unit with a distinct general body of law. Restatement, Second, Conflicts, § 3. Term may refer either to body politic of a nation (e.g. United States) or to an individual governmental unit of such nation (e.g. California).

The section of territory occupied by one of the United States. One of the component commonwealths or states of the United States of America. The term is sometimes applied also to governmental agencies authorized by state, such as municipal corporations. Any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Common wealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. Uniform Probate Code, § 1-201(40). The people of a state, in their collective capacity, considered as the party wronged by a criminal deed; the public; as in the title of a cause, "The State vs. A. B."Term "state" as used in rules providing when a state may appeal in a criminal case is all inclusive and intended to include not only the state but its political subdivisions, counties and cities. Spokane County v. Gifford, 9 Wash. App. 541, 513 P.2d 301, 302. Federal Government is a "state" bound by all of provisions of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers. Enright v. U. S., D.C.N.Y., 437 F.Supp. 580, 581.

The circumstances or condition of a being or thing at a given time.

BLACK’S 8th

State, n. 1. The political system of a body of people who are politically organized; the system of rules by which jurisdiction and authority are exercised over such a body of people <separation of church and state>. — Also termed political society. Cf. NATION. [Cases: International Law 3.C.J.S. International Law §§ 6–8, 13.]

“A STATE is a community of persons living within certain limits of territory, under a permanent organization which aims to secure the prevalence of justice by self-imposed law. The organ of the state by which its relations with other states are managed is the government.” Theodore D. Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law § 36, at 34 (5th ed. 1878).“A state or political society is an association of human beings established for the attainment of certain ends by certain means. It is the most important of all the various kinds of society in which men unite, being indeed the necessary basis and condition of peace, order, and civilization. What then is the difference between this and other forms of association? In what does the state differ from such other societies as a church, a university, a joint-stock company, or a trade union? The difference is clearly one of function. The state must be defined by reference to such of its activities and purposes as are essential and characteristic.” John Salmond, Jurisprudence 129 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947).“A state is an institution, that is to say, it is a system of relations which men establish among themselves as a means of securing certain objects, of which the most fundamental is a system of order within which their activities can be carried on. Modern states are territorial; their governments exercise control over persons and things within their frontiers, and today the whole of the habitable world is divided between about seventy of these territorial states. A state should not be confused with the whole community of persons living on its territory; it is only one among a multitude of other institutions, such as churches and corporations, which a community establishes for securing different objects, though obviously it is one of tremendous importance; none the less it is not, except in the ideology of totalitarianism, an all-embracing institution, not something from which, or within which, all other institutions and associations have their being; many institutions, e.g. the Roman Catholic Church, and many associations, e.g. federations of employers and of workers, transcend the boundaries of any single state.” J.L. Brierly, The Law of Nations 118 (5th ed. 1955).

BLACK’S 9th

State, n. (16c) 1. The political system of a body of people who are politically organized; the system of rules by which jurisdiction and authority are exercised over such a body of people <separation of church and state>. - Also termed political society. Cf. NATION. [Cases: International Law 3.]

"A STATE is a community of persons living within certain limits of territory, under a permanent organization which aims to secure the prevalence of justice by self-imposed Jaw. The organ of the state by which its relations with other states are managed is the government." Theodore D. Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law § 36, at 34 (5t h ed. 1878). "A state or political society is an association of human beings established for the attainment of certain ends by certain means. It is the most important of all the various kinds of society in which men unite, being indeed the necessary basis and condition of peace, order, and civilization. What then is the difference between this and other forms of association? In what does the state differ from such other societies as a church, a university, a joint-stock company, or a trade union? The difference is clearly one of function. The state must be defined by reference to such of its activities and purposes as are essential and characteristic." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 129 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947). 'A state is an institution, that is to say, it is a system of relations which men establish among themselves as a means of securing certain objects, of which the most fundamental is a system of order within which their activities can be carried on. Modern states are territorial; their governments exercise control over persons and things within their frontiers, and today the whole of the habitable world is divided between about seventy of these territorial states. A state should not be confused with the whole community of persons living on its territory; it is only one among a multitude of other institutions, such as churches and corporations, which a community establishes for securing different objects, though obviously it is one of tremendous importance; none the less it is not, except in the ideology of totalitarianism, an all-embracing institution, not some thing from which, or within which, all other institutions and associations have their being; many institutions, e.g. the Roman Catholic Church, and many associations, e.g. federations of employers and of workers, transcend the boundaries of any single state." JL Brierly, The Law of Nations 118 (5th ed. 1 955). Governmental control and arbitrary uses of power by the ruling elite, which uses the police as the instrument of control; a totalitarian state.