The Purpose of the State: Ancient, Liberal, Marxist and Feminist Standpoints

Every political ideology has a distinct conception of various aspects of human life such as reason, purpose of life, free-will, liberty, freedom, autonomy, democracy, sovereignty and moral rights and obligations of the citizen. But the fundamental purpose of a political ideology is to define the purpose of the state and its role in providing a political system to its citizen in which individuals can live their social and political life according to the moral values and ethical principles of that political ideology. This paper only elucidates the purpose of the state according to ancient, Liberal, Marxist and Feminist standpoints. To understand the viewpoint of each political ideology, it is necessary to understand the political thought of its founders. It is pertinent to mention that all political thinkers have one ultimate aim in describing the purpose of the state which is the "ultimate good" of the citizen though they may differ with each other. The viewpoint of one ideology about the purpose of the state may be at odds with another ideology. For example, liberals demand freedom and equality while accepting the capitalist state but Marxist reject the capitalist state in totality, however they also demand freedom and equality of man. Hence, all these political ideologies of these great political thinkers have developed into political movements and later into the formation of political parties which resulted in the modern day civic political system.