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state and its bodies. In contrast to other types of power, state power
has the following characteristics:
- unity – there is only one state power in the country;
- universality – the power of the state is extended to the entire

territory of the country and to all people who inhabit it;
- sovereignty – state power is independent of any other power
both in the middle of the country and beyond;

- organizational structure – state power is separated from
society and materially embodied in the state apparatus – a set of
interconnected public authorities;
- presence of a coercive body (army, police, control and

supervisory bodies, prison, etc.).
However, a democratic society is organized not only by state
authorities. Public NGOs, formed on the basis of common interests,

play a significant role here. State power in most of these countries is
under the control of civil society.
The question of the origin or emergence of a state can be

considered from two positions. First, how was the state born in the
conditions of generic society? Secondly, how have new states
appeared in recent centuries and in the modern period? The conditions

of state’s origin in the last century are known, since the historical
sources of the emergence of such states have survived.
The question about the emergence of the state in the
"prehistoric" period, in the conditions of generic society is much more

difficult, since very few written sources survived, which explain the
reasons and conditions of its occurrence. In connection with this (and
for other reasons), several theories about the historical origin of the

state have arisen in science. Such theories (concepts) include:
theological (divine), cosmic, contractual, patriarchal, conquest
(violence), socio-economic or class.
One of the oldest theories is the theological or the theory of the

divine origin of the state. It affirms that the state arose because of
God's will, or was destined for man by God. This theory can be
confirmed by the Bible (Old Testament), which refers to the

emergence of a state in ancient Israel, when Moses led the Jews out
from Egypt. This theory succeeded in the ancient world: in the
countries of the Far East, in Egypt, Babylon, Syria, and others.

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