“I swear.” Thus begins, in almost all states of this world, the oath at the swearing-in of their public servants. The vow on the constitution, and the testing against reality of how far citizens can rely on the secure framework thus guaranteed, remain a continuous task. The free press and the arts are the fourth force that helps fulfil this task. But what is “the state”? Its citizens would be one possible answer; its public servants another. Understood as a form of organisation, it becomes a theoretical construct.