When should ‘state’ be capitalised?
Often I get confused when to capitalise the word state. In the following three different meanings of the word, when should the letter S be capitalized?
- Synonymous to the words country, nation or government. Even though there are subtle differences among them.
- 1st-tier administrative division of a country. Examples: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Baden-Württemberg.
- Status of something. Examples:
The state of education in this State is pathetic.
Solution 1:
There are no special rules for capitalizing the word "state" in ordinary, non-technical English. It should be capitalized when at the start of a sentence, or when it is part of a proper noun.
The state (3) of affairs is that the State of Washington (proper noun) is a state (2) within the sovereign state (1) known as The United States of America (proper noun).
Solution 2:
Although I broadly agree with the first answer to this question, I note that in legal writing (particularly in the field of public international law) the word "state" is widely capitalised when used in the meaning of a nation state (i.e. a subject of public international law). I have often struggled with this usage, as it goes against the generally accepted rules on capitalisation of words in English. However, given the extent to which this usage is established in the aforementioned field, I thought it worth mentioning.
Solution 3:
As we always capitalize countries, I believe it would be logical to capitalize 'state' when it refers directly to the institution of a particular sovereign country and its government;
for example:
You cannot discuss the Spanish colonization without referring to the complex and intertwining history of the Church and the State.
Here 'the State' directly means 'the Kingdom of Spain/the Hispanic Monarchy/the Spanish Empire'.
Solution 4:
Following is a survey of style advice from various style manuals that I consulted on the question of when to capitalize the word state.
British style guides
From The Oxford Guide to Style (2002):
Some words bear a distinction in capitalization according to their use in an abstract or specific sense. Churches are capitalized fir denomination, as Baptist Church, but lower-cased for building, as Baptist church. Note, however, the distinction between
the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church
the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches
Oxford University and Cambridge University
Oxford and Cambridge universities
where churches and universities are lower-case since they are descriptive rather than part of a formal name. Similarly State is capitalized in an abstract or legal sense, separation of Church and State, but not in a specific sense (except when forming a title): drove over the New York state line but member of the New York State Senate.
From The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors (2003):
state a nation or territory considered as a political community, often cap. to denote the abstract concept: 'separation of Church and State'
From H.W. Fowler & Ernest Gowers, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, second edition (1965):
state, n. It is a convenient distinction to write State for the political unit, at any rate when the full noun use is required (not the attributive, as in state trading), and state in other senses. [Cross-reference omitted.] The following compound forms are recommended [Cross-reference omitted.]: statecraft, stateroom, State socialism, State prisoner, State trial, State paper.
U.S. style guides
From [Merriam-]Webster's Standard American Style Manual (19885):
Words designating global, national, regional, or local political divisions are capitalized when they are essential elements of specific names. However, they are usually lowercased when they precede a proper name or when they are not part of a specific name.
[Relevant examples:] Washington State, the state of Washington
NOTE: In legal documents, these words are often capitalized regardless of position.
the State of Washington, the County of Hampton, the City of New York
From Allan Siegal & William Connolly, The New York Times Manual of Stylr and Usage, revised edition1999):
state. Capitalize New York State, Washington State and formal references to any state government: The State of Ohio brought the suit. Lowercase state in references to a geographical area (They drove through the state of Illinois) and when it stands alone (The state sued the city) Capitalize when State appears with the name of an official agency or with an official title that is capitalized: the State Education Department, State Treasurer Pat Y. Berenich. Use State in references to New York and Washington when necessary to distinguish them from the cities, but omit State if the context is unmistakable: The governors of California and New York have similar powers. Nebraska's population is smaller than Washington's. Lowercase in the general sense: affairs of state.
From The Associated Press Stylebook (2007):
state Lowercase in all state of constructions: the state of Maine, the states of Maine and Vermont.
...
Do not capitalize state when used simply as an adjective to specify a level of jurisdiction: state Rep. William Smith, the state Transportation Department, state funds.
...
MISCELLANEOUS: Use New York state when necessary to distinguish the state from New York City.
Use state of Washington or Washington state when necessary to distinguish the state from the District of Columbia. (Washington State is the name of a university in the state of Washington.)
From Words into Type, third edition (1974):
Divisions of the world or of a country. Cap names of the division of the world or of a country
[Relevant examples:] North Atlantic States [as an official U.S. census designation], New York State
Lowercase: state {used in a general sense and when it does not follow a proper name: state of New York, state of Oklahoma} and coast {when the meaning is the shoreline rather than the region: Pacific coast, Atlantic coast}.
...
The word church is capped when it forms a part of such names [as religious denominations, monastic orders, movements, and their adherents] or of names of particular edifices, but not hen it stands alone unless it is used to denote a religious organization of the whole world or of a particular country. This form is usually found in contradistinction to State: the Church and the State.
From The Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (2010):
8.50 Political divisions—capitalization. Words denoting political division—from empire, republic, and state down to ward and precinct—are capitalized when they follow a name and are used as an accepted part of the name. When preceding the name, such terms are usually capitalized in names of countries but lowercased in entities below the national level (but see 8.51). Used alone, they are usually lowercased.
[Relevant examples:]the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; the republic; the State of the Gambella Peoples; the state
the Commonwealth of Australia; the commonwealth; the state of New South Wales; the state
Washington State; the state of Washington
8.51 Governmental entities. In contexts where a specific governmental body rather than the place is meant, the words state, city, and the like are usually capitalized when used as part of of the full name of the body.
Conclusions
Style guides are fragmented on the details of precisely when to capitalize state as a term for a political or geographical subdivision of the world. Overall, however, they tend to endorse capitalizing State when the word appears as part of a formal proper name and lowercasing it otherwise. Of course, the style guides that particular publishing houses enforce may diverge from the main current of usage in unpredictable ways, since capitalization is a notoriously idiosyncratic area of writing style.
With regard to the three specific types of occurrences that the poster asks about, the following conclusions seem reasonable:
Synonymous to the words 'country', 'nation' or 'government'. Even though there are subtle differences among them. There is very little style guide approval for capitalizing state as a common noun in instances where it refers to a political entity comparable to a nation or country. Likewise, style guides offer virtually no support for capitalizing nation or country as a common noun. The chief exception—where substantial but by no means unanimous support for capitalizing State exists—involves instances where the word refers unitarily to the abstract idea of secular government or authority (often in juxtaposition with ecclesiastical government or authority, as in the contrasting terms Church and State).
1st-tier administrative division of a country. Examples: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Baden-Württemberg. Most of the style guides I consulted advise against capitalizing state in instances where the word refers to a particular governmental state. So, for example, most style guides (especially in the United States) would approve of lowercasing state as a stand-in for California in the following instance: "The state of education in California is pathetic" --> "The state of education in this state is pathetic."
Status of something [as in "The state of education in this State is pathetic"]. I haven't found any style guide that recommends capitalizing state in instances where the word means "status" or "condition."