2 B. The four confusions students must never make (classic exam table)

TermMeaningExampleStatePolitical-legal entity: population + territory + government + sovereigntyNepal, India, SwitzerlandNationA people united by sentiment — common culture, language, history (no territory or government required)the Tamang community as a cultural group; the KurdsNation- stateA state whose population is largely one nationJapan (near-ideal type)GovernmentThe agent of the state — the machinery that administers it; governments change, the state persiststhe Deuba government changed; Nepal continuedSocietyThe widest web of social relations — older and broader than the statesociety includes cricket clubs and temples State ≠ government: the state is the principal (permanent, abstract, sovereign); government is its agent (temporary, concrete, instrumental). When the 2046 BS movement toppled the Panchayat government, the Nepali state continued seamlessly — only its constitutional form changed.