are two terms that are often confused as terms that convey the same meaning. Actually, there are differences between the two words. The word

‘government’ is used in the sense of ‘a body that prescribes the rules and regulations pertaining to

governing a country’. On the other hand, the word ‘politics’ is used in the sense of ‘a branch of knowledge

that deals with affairs of state’. This is the main difference between the two words.

Government refers to the group of people that run the country. On the other hand, politics refers to the process followed by the leaders of political groups

who rule the country. As a matter of fact, the path of the government is free from the interference by the common man. On the other hand, politics has the

involvement of the common man to a greater extent. This is one of the main differences between government and politics.

Government is found only in the act of ruling the states and districts. On the other hand, politics can be found in every discipline for that matter.

Politics can be seen in education, cultural relationships, sports, arts and the like. Government is all about administration. On the other hand, politics is

all about affairs of the government.

Politics deals with the role of the opposition leaders too. On the other hand, government deals with the rule by the elected party. In other words, the

elected party alone is fit to form the government. The opposition party that contributes to politics cannot form the government. On the other hand, the

allied parties of the elected party can become a part of the government. These parties can lend a helping hand to the elected party. These are the differences

between government and politics.

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications:

(a) a permanent population (people)

(b) a defined territory;

(c) government (political authority)

(d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states (diplomat recognition or sovereignty).

A state is an organization of human beings living together as a community. The population of a state comprises all individuals who, in principle, inhabit the

territory in a permanent way. It may consist of nationals and foreigners. As has repeatedly been pointed out by doctrine, the requirement of a population is not

necessarily an equivalent of the requirement of nationality.

The population of a state need not be completely homogeneous in culture, language, race or

otherwise. Indeed, it is even rare, except for Micro-States, to find a State with a homogeneous people. International law does not require a minimum

number of inhabitants constituting a State. The smallest number of nationals in a Micro-State can be found in Nauru and in Monaco. This figure can be even

lower if we take into account that theoretically Pitcairn with 52 inhabitants has the right to opt for statehood by virtue of its right to self-determination

. No reservations have been made by the international community with respect to statehood because of the limited number of nationals of Micro-States, even if

the nationals were outnumbered by foreign residents.

The functions of a State, a political and legal community of human beings, must first of all be exercised in a given territory.

Territory is a geographical area that is owned and controlled by a government or country to exercise such state sovereignty.

Therefore, most of legal professors give and conclude the definition of the territory that territory clearly comprises and refers to land territory which

belongs to state and individuals, internal waters and territorial sea (straits) which state claims for sovereignty, and the airspace above this territory.

It is required that the State must consist of a certain coherent territory effectively governed and the territory of a State need not be exactly fixed by

definite frontiers.

“A defined geographical area” the existence of Micro-State with minimum land territory such as Monaco (1.95 square kilometer), and the Vatican City

(0.44 square kilometer) leads to the conclusion that no minimum size is required for the territory, as this element was never a reason for denying statehood.

The government is the executive branch of the state and has the role to administer the state uniformly in the following aspects: political, economic, social,

cultural, use of natural resources, environmental protection, national defense and security, and foreign affairs.

Form of state is defined depending on the constitution drafted, generally structure of state can be divided into: unitary state and federal state, this

probably affects the government in exercising limit on its power.

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a

political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The definition of “the Sovereignty” is quite similar to “the Independence” and they

mostly used along together.

standards are developed going through a transparent and democratic procedure. As companies bring their products to the market based on de jure standards, they do not impose excessive burden on corporations or consumers. However, development of de jure standards takes a long time. They are not suitable for products with short cycle such as IT-related products. As a result, a new type of standards “forum standards” has been introduced recently, which adopts the positive parts of both de fact standards and de jure standards. Influential companies get together to form a standard before bringing products to the market, so that neither companies nor consumers need to take risks.

standard is a standard that achieved its status as a result of market competition. For example, Windows for personal computers or VHS for

video cartridge recorders are typical de facto standards.

A process that a product becomes a standard after it is brought to the market and exposed to competition is called the “classical model”.

For this instance, such case as Microsoft which maintains monopoly in the market is quite unusual. It is more common that several companies form a group,

and those several groups make competition among each other and the winner is determined.

A process that a winner is determined after products are brought to the market imposes a heavy burden on companies as they already have completed their

capital investment. Consumers also get lost, as even if they purchased products, those styles may no longer be seen in the market some time later.

A good example is that consumers felt inconvenience if they had bought video tapes of beta system for some time as they only saw those of VHS system some

time later and those tapes previously bought could not be used anymore.

On the other hand, de jure standards are standards that are developed after going through a certain procedure. Those standards developed by ISO or IEC are

developed through a procedure that experts gather from all over the world and discuss on standardization proposals, which are finally approved through

voting by national standards institutes. Japan’s standards JIS are also developed going through a procedure that JISC first deliberate a proposal and

competent Ministers finally make decision to incorporate the proposed standards in the JIS.