Development of the Theory. The theory of pluralism originated in the writings of Otto V. Gierke and F W. Maitland in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, although earlier political thinkers, too, had recognised the part associations played in the life of man. The doctrine of Gierke and Maitland is that various associations which exist within any society, are instinctive to man. They are not hypothetical, fictitious or created from without. Each association has a real personality and a collective consciousness and will. Each is independent of the State and may be even prior to it. According to Gierke, all such associations have their own rights, duties and functions. He argues that "the State should accept the common point of view that permanent associations have rights and duties as groups, whether or not the State has 49 accepted them as corporations.