ABSTRACT
By community I mean, in this context, the common identity, sentiments and interests that members of the same independent political society must have to a certain degree if that society is to survive and flourish. First of all, by independent political society I mean a territorial entity that is under the control of a government in the sense that the government can make and enforce decisions regarding the rules and policies that inhabitants of that territory are to follow. While that government may be more or less strongly influenced in its decision-making by outside powers, it is nevertheless independent if it claims, accepts and is acknowledged to have, responsibility for the rules and policies that are to apply to the people in its territory. In other words, it has the form of a sovereign state. Older political forms, such as ancient kingdoms and empires, may have had looser connections between the central ruler and outlying parts of their territories than the idea of the sovereign state implies. But at least for core regions of the territory, the ruler must be in a position to decide and enforce the rules and policies governing his people’s interactions if he is to be said to be the authoritative ruler of that area.
