(i) State has four elements population, fixed territory, government and sovereignty. It means the government is only one element out of four elements of the state.
(ii) Government is the agency through which laws are made, enforced and those who violate laws, are punished by the government. There are all things done within the area of the state by the government.
(iii) Government is the visible manifestation of state authority. It consists of all officials, or persons, institutions and agencies through which state is expressed and carried out.
(iv) The state speaks through the government but even then state and government are quite different. The state has authority inherent in itself whereas the government has no inherent powers. The government gets its structure, authority and power from the Constitution of the State. Constitution is required for both-State as well as for the government. In fact the Constitution being the collection of basic rules, is the fundamental law according to which the government of a state is organized.
(v) The state is a larger entity that includes all the citizens; the government is, relatively a smaller unit that includes only those who are employed to perform its functions. We are all citizens of the state, but we are all not functionaries of the government. Garner writes: "The government is an essential organ or agency of the state but it is not more than the state itself as the board of directors of a corporation is itself the corporation."
(vi) The state's definite territory is always definite. It remains unchanged. Its boundaries remain where they are. The government's territory is never permanent. Muhammad Tughlaq had changed his capital to a place called Daultabad. Many governments had changed their capitals to London during the World War II, fearing the German attack.
(vii) The state is merely an abstraction. The government is the concretization of the idea of the state. We see the government, not the state.
(viii) The sovereign powers lay with the state; it is the state which is sovereign. The government only exercises power. The government's powers are delegated and derivative; the state's powers are real and original.
(ix) The opposition to the state is different from the opposition of the government. We criticize the government; we never condemn the state. The criticism of the state is a revolt; the criticism of the government is not a rebellion. We would never hear from an Indian that India is bad; but we would usually hear that the policies of the Indian Government headed by a political party or a multitude of political parties are bad. It is a crime to condemn one's state; it is a duty, in fact it is a right to criticize one's government.
