According to Spinoza, the State, or nation, is an "individual", with its own endeavor for self-preservation. It is usually at greater risk from its own citizens that an outside power; and in order to perserve itself, it must take care in how it exercises its power. He names three: Freedom of speech, toleration of religion, and an environment that produces "free men" (according to his Ethics)...pretty vague but I think we get the idea, limited constitutional democracy. But the state itself is an individual, with the same rights as its citizens...if it is threatened, it can harm those same citizens through its own nature of self-preservation.
