A critical challenge to the state requires a definition which is logically coherent. Unless we can conceptualize the state 'as a whole' we cannot move beyond the curate's egg analysis in which bits of the state are good and bits are bad. if we are to criticize the state as such - i.e in its totality - this is possible only if we have a definition of the state which is both coherent and structured. it is because Weber's definition has these features that it constitutes a useful point from which to begin