National power and its political inconvenience

Abstract

the political constitution of colombia contemplates in its text only two powers in the state, the first one, the sovereign power of the people, and the other one, derived from the first, the public power recognized under its three branches: legislative, executive and judicial, where the executive collects the administrative organization of the state with a feature of functionality, as for an example, the defense of the country corresponds to the ministry of defense through the actions of its military forces.

in the state organization, like that which governed until year 1991, sovereignty was exercised by the state, an active subject of the norms and, therefore, its beneficiary.

in contrast, in the present social state of law or rule of law, people were raised as active subjects and beneficiaries, while the state became an obligated or passive subject.

in the case of national defense, this became the responsibility of the state towards its citizens, a criterion of notable significance in the transformation of the notions of power in all its forms, since, in relation to defense, national power is not anymore the sum of all the capacities of the citizens, but only that of those who freely engage in its realization. the same relationship occurs with the so-called economic, political or psychosocial power of the nation, since it is not a total part of the power of the nation due to factors such as globalization that affect power from abroad, as does pluralism in the interior.

whatever the position assumed by the citizen, it is up to the state to determine the elements with which it responds to the needs and, in the case of national defense, it must accept that the power differs from the potential, that everything is not available and that its policies towards the military forces must adjust to these new realities, so that the military plans are in accordance with the measure of the political and administrative capacity of the state.