Comparative analysis of political thinkers' thoughts on the state in terms of stateism and individualism

In the history of political thought, the state, society and the individual have never been independent of each other. The relationship of the individual with the state, the relationship of society with the state or the relationship of the individual with society has affected the state administration systems as well as the areas of rights and freedoms. In thiscontext, the theories of statism and individualism have differed between ages. In the political arena of the ancient and medieval ages, the state was in the position of ordering and the individual was in the position of submission, but this situation has changed with the modern age. Especially the break with traditional ideas has deepened the differences even more. With the modern age, this depth has made itself felt more in individual rights and freedoms. Although in the modern age, the individual is mostly dissolved in the social, there are also ideas that the areas of freedom should be protected. Likewise, the fruits of the seeds sown in the modern age have made themselves felt more in the recent age on the axis of Democratic orders. In thisstudy, comparative analyses were made to determine the meaning of the ideas of statism and individualism of political thinkers. In the periods analysed from Ancient Greece to the recent era, care has been taken to prefer thinkers who reflect the framework of their era. In this context, in this study, in which the ideas of statism and individualism put forward by political thinkers in different periods are emphasised, it has been tried to emphasise which side of the theories and views, statism or individualism thought systems are located. As a result, ithas been determined that intellectual changes have occurred in the process of progressing from traditional state structures to the formation of modern state structures. While the influence of the religious dimension is decisive for the administrative authorities in traditional state structures, there is a state mechanism in the modern state system, which is based on social realities. However, it has been determined that although significant gains have been achieved in the context of individual rights and freedoms in the development process of the modern state, the intervention area of the state has been preserved. Keywords: State, Individual, Society, Statism, Individualism, Political Thinkers, Collectivism, Power.