Scope note

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This class comprises a defined set of persons who are joined together by virtue of belonging to a shared civil society, collectively subject to the rights and responsibilities that that civil society confers. As an otherwise unorganized group, polities lack the agency required to undertake collective actions. They may however be subject to the actions of others, with the authority to organize the civil society to which the individuals belong. The substance of polity is a collectivity of people defined by their belonging to a shared civil society.

Instances of polity come into and go out of existence through natural and social processes, these may be formal (in the case, e.g., of a constitutional formation) or informal, where the particular details of the polity's formation are difficult to know or the subject of research and investigation. An instance of polity can be identified when a suitable collective of individuals matching to its description can be identified to live within the bounds of a recognized civil society.

Language

en