The State is defined by ruling-class activity that secures the consent of the ruled

Evidence

If political science means science of the State, and the State is the entire complex of practical and theoretical activities with which the ruling class not only justifies and maintains its dominance, but manages to win the active consent of those over whom it rules, then it is obvious that all the essential questions of sociology are nothing other than the questions of political science. If there is a residue, this can only be made up of false problems, i.e. frivolous problems. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 915

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is a core Gramscian definition of the State as ruling-class dominance plus active consent — foundational for the hegemony toolkit.
• XREF: This is the definition of the integral State (coercion + consent) that the Islamophobia field relies on; connects directly to later readings in this foundations module.