118 Political Theory: The Relationship of Man and the Statewith the organic theory, the differences will be apparent.
In the organismic theory the state is thought to be a living
organism— not just similar to a living organism, but in fact a
living organism. Mussolini advanced this theory of the state and
considered the people to be the cells, the government to be the
limbs, and the leader the brain. A state then, like all other living
beings is born, grows, matures, peaks, declines, and eventually
dies. The implications of this position are obvious. Imperialism
is considered a sign of growth. Militarism becomes necessary for
the implementation the imperial impulse, thus chauvinism al
most always must accompany the other two in order to sustain
them. This theory compares the state to a biological organism,
and contends that the state is indeed a biological organism.
George F.W. Hegel put forth a theory which while organis
mic, dealt with the birth, life, growth, decline and death of the
state as a spiritual entity. He claimed that a particular state, as a
spiritual organism, rises and falls within a historical context.
Obviously, one’s conception of the origin of the state will be
reflected in the notion of the nature of the state. Briefly, let us
discuss the nature of the state. If the state came into being by
force, as a social contract, or as an imitation of a family— then
it’s nature is mechanistic. The state is simply a tool, a device, a
mechanism which men use to provide for those needs we have
enumerated earlier. The mechanistic theory thrusts man into the
crucial role—man determines what the state will be. If however,
the state is organic or divine in origin, or if the family is the unit
which developed naturally into a state, then the state is natural to
man. If the state is a natural entity, of which man is a part, then
the whole is greater than any of its parts. Finally, if the state came
into being as a living organism, then its nature is the same as all
other living things, and as an organism poses the same implica
tions for the state as it does for all living beings.