Subject - who is this? Usually this word is associated with citizenship, which is understood as the relationship between a person and the state. However, this approach is not entirely accurate. In the case of citizenship, we are not talking about the country in general, but about the monarch as its head. More details about who this subject is will be discussed in the article.
What does the dictionary say?
To find out the meaning of the word "subject", let's turn to its dictionary interpretation. There we see two options:
- A person who is a citizen of some state.
- An obsolete word for a person who is economically dependent on another person.
To understand the first of the given meanings of “subject”, it is necessary to understand the interpretation of the word “subject”. If we look in a legal dictionary, we will see that in it this term is interpreted as belonging of a person to such a state, headed by a monarch.
Synonyms and origins
To get betterto understand who it is - a subject, consider the synonyms for this word and its origin.
Among the synonyms are such as:
- subject;
- subordinate;
- vassal;
- subprimary;
- tribute;
- citizen;
- subordinate;
- forced;
- dependent;
- judicial.
As for the origin, according to etymologists, it goes back to the Latin adjective subditus. The Polish language has the word poddany, which is a tracing paper from the Latin language. In the 17th century, it passed into Russian and, in literal translation, is understood as being under tribute, taxed, that is, dependent.
To make it easier to assimilate the meaning of the word we are studying, let's consider it in comparison with the institution of citizenship that is close, but not identical to it.
What is the essence of citizenship and citizenship?
Citizenship is an earlier legal institution than citizenship. Its appearance is attributed to the time of the establishment of the monarchical system. Citizenship is based on the connection between the individual and the monarch ruling the country in which the person lives. Such a monarch can be, for example, a king, a king, an emperor. This connection is expressed in the fact that the subject is obliged to serve his monarch and obey him in everything and unquestioningly.
Citizenship is also a kind of legal relationship, but between other subjects. These subjects are the individual and the state. These relationships involvethe presence of bilateral obligations between a person and power. The first must comply with the laws established by the state, and the second must organize his life in harmony with these laws.
To finally clarify the question of who is a subject, let's highlight the similarities and differences between the two legal institutions.
Similarities and differences
The similarity of citizenship and citizenship lies in the fact that both the first and the second express a close mutual connection between a person and those highest structures of power that are at the head of the state at a particular moment in time.
While the differences between them are as follows:
- Regarding the territorial formation: submission to the authorities in the person of the sole ruling ruler, in case of citizenship; represented by the state, which is a collegiate body, in a situation of citizenship.
- Regarding the relationship structure. The institution of citizenship presupposes the existence of obligations that are accepted by the individual unilaterally. They do not entail the liability of the other party. Citizenship, on the other hand, contains mutual rights and obligations.
- Regarding participation in the exercise of power. People living in a country ruled by a monarch are placed as subjects in the position of unconditional executors of the sovereign's instructions. And citizenship gives them the opportunity to participate in the election of power structures through the voting procedure, as well as the opportunity to make historical decisions through participation in a referendum.
Allthe foregoing allows us to say that the understanding of a subject as a person who is under the jurisdiction of the state is incorrect and is permissible only when used in colloquial speech. It would be correct to say that a subject is a person who is in close legal connection with the monarch.
