be identified with the entire ‘body politic’. It is in this sense, for instance,
that it is possible to talk about ‘rolling forward’ or ‘rolling back’ the state,
by which is meant expanding or contracting the responsibilities of state
institutions and, in the process, enlarging or reducing the machinery of the
state. However, such an institutional definition fails to take account of
the fact that, in their capacity as citizens, individuals are also part of the
political community, members of the state. Moreover, the state has a vital
territorial component, its authority being confined to a precise geographical
area. This is why the state is best thought of not just as a set of
institutions but as a particular kind of political association, specifically one
that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined territorial borders. In
that sense, its institutional apparatus merely gives expression to state
authority.