“The Idea of State” is the most famous work of the French philosopher, historian of state and law Henri Michel (1857–1904). In this book, he sought to identify the natural connections of the teachings about the state among representatives of various directions of philosophical and scientific thought and different eras, as well as the connections of the doctrines put forward by them with the general development of philosophy and society as a whole. At the beginning of the 20th century. “The Idea of the State” occupied an honorable place among the most relevant philosophical works and was a reference book for everyone who was at all seriously interested in philosophical teachings about the state. Undoubted proof of this popularity is that in the first three years after the first publication of “The Idea of the State,” the book went through two more editions, and in total, “The Idea of the State” was reprinted more than ten times in France. The latest edition was published in 2003 in the “Anthology of French Philosophy” series. The continuing interest in the legacy of Henri Michel is explained by the fact that his attention was focused on enduring problems - the relationship between power and freedom, the rights and responsibilities of the individual, the search for an optimal balance between the interests of society and the people who make it up. The book may be of interest to philosophers, historians, political scientists, as well as anyone interested in the theory of government and philosophical views on the state.