What is meant
What is meant is that the civil state is built on respect for the law and adherence to it, not on obeying individuals or being subordinate to them It is also associated with pluralism and the separation of powers, so that the reference point is the legal order, not individual authority
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: political
- Argument movement: makes the law the reference point for obedience in the civil state.
- Central terms: civil state, law, individuals, reference point, authority.
- Degree of centrality: pivotal.
This atom explains the difference between rule of law and rule of persons, and gives the reader a simple criterion for distinguishing the civil state from forms of personal rule.
Links that help with reading
Basis
- Supporting text: «The passage links the civil state with pluralism, separation of powers, and obedience to the law rather than to persons».
The basis’s location in the book
- Book: State and Society.
- Location: in the middle section of the book, within the discussion of the legitimacy of authority and accountability.
- Type of basis: close evidence.
- Marker that helps verify it: obedience in this state is to the law
- Reading note: the passage explicitly states that obedience is to the law, not to persons, which matches the atom precisely.
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the wording above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted verbatim.
Editorial note
The meaning is repeated from the previous atom, but it is clearer in formulation.