In Duguit's opinion, the state was not a mythical Sovereign inherently superior to all its subjects, or even a particularly powerful legal person, but merely a group of people engaged in public service, the activity constituting and legitimising the state. Although critical of notions such as sovereignty, democracy, legal personhood and even property to the extent it is not legitimised by a social purpose,[1] he distinguished himself from Marxists by emphasizing the function of the economy for the development of the state.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Duguit
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