Term paper on What Is Politics
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What Is Politics
On hearing the word politics, what usually springs to mind are images of
government, politicians and their policies or more negatively the idea
of corruption and dirty tricks. The actual definition seems to have been
obscured and almost lost by such representations and clichés that tend
not to pinpoint the true essence, which defines this thing, called
politics. In order to make an attempt at a definition of politics a
systematic approach is required. To begin with, a brief historical
overview will be considered, to understand the origins of politics.
Following this, different core concepts, which are imperative to a
definition of politics, will be discussed, in the hope to discover a
true and fair interpretation of the word politics.
The word politics comes from the Greek word "polis", meaning the state
or community as a whole. The concept of the "polis" was an ideal state
and came from the writings of great political thinkers such as Plato and
Aristotle. In his novel "The Republic", Plato describes the ideal state
and the means to achieve it. Hence, the word politics originally has
connotations in the ways in which to create the ideal society. An ideal
society is in practice a rather difficult aim and even an impossible aim
to achieve. Politics implies measures which could and should, in the
views of their devisor, be implemented in the hope to create a better
society, than that which is already present. The very fact that Plato
and Aristotle saw imperfections in the societies in which they lived,
prompted them to write their political philosophies. These philosophies
provided the first written recognition of politics. In his writings his
"The Politics", Aristotle states that "Man is by nature a political
animal"(The Politics, 1) in another words, it lies deep within the
instinct of man. It is almost primal. Due to his nature man should
consider and realise his role within the "polis". So according to
Aristotle Politics is not a dreamt up concept, but rather an inherent
feature of mankind.
To begin with, the basest premise that underpins the notion of politics
should be considered in order to arrive at a fair definition. Man is
self-preserving by nature. He thinks and acts, whether that is as an
individual or as a group who share interests, with foremost regard to
his own interests. Self-perpetuation is the number one rule. He
therefore possesses his own interests, ideas and preferences, which may
differ to those of his contemporaries. In the "Blackwell Encyclopaedia
of Political Thought", Miller supports this premise:
"Politics presupposes a diversity of view, if not about ultimate aims,
at least the best ways of achieving them". (Miller, 1987, p.390)
Politics consider this view of man, in that on meeting others whose
interests oppose his own, conflict is bound to occur. What could be the
cause of this conflict in interest? The world has its limits; all
material wealth within it is exhaustible. Who therefore, gets how large
a share, of those resources, which are present on the earth in limited
supply? If man were permitted to act on and pursue his own selfish
interests, snatching that, which he desires, a society would quickly
become under rule of violence. Politics is a way of combating the
degradation of society into a violent and unstructured mess by reducing
it to be governed by the primitive instincts of man in order to resolve
conflict. Leftwich states in his essay entitled "Politics: people,
resources and power" from his book "What is Politics?"
"...politics compromises all the activities of co-operation and
conflict, within and between societies, whereby the human species goes
about organising the use, production and distribution of human, natural
and other resources in the production and reproduction of its biological
and social life." (Leftwich, 1984, p.64-65)
Politics therefore may be defined a means to resolving this conflict
through various means, which will be tackled later in this essay. If
however one was to take this premise of the existence of opposing
opinions as false, conflict between individuals should never occur and
politics would not be required to resolve problems. To justify politics
however, this premise must be true and through simply considering, the
society in which we live it is evident, that conflict exists. In his
definition of politics in the "Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political
Thought" Miller advocates this view, stating that if "people (were to)
agree spontaneously on a course of action...they (would) have no need to
engage in politics."(Miller, 1987, p.390)(Added) Thus, politics exists
due to the broad spectrum of ideas and opinions within any society.
To resolve conflicting opinions, a consensus must be agreed upon by all
parties affected. Also in "The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political
Thought", Miller cites three methods which are a feature of politics
when resolving disagreements within society, these three elements are
"persuasion, bargaining and a mechanism for reaching a final
decision"(Miller, 1987, p.390). This means that politics tries to act as
a peacemaker by offering solution(s) to conflict to the parties involved
by means of discussion with them. The outcome will most probably require
the yielding of at least one of the parties implicated in order to meet
at a compromise. The mechanism is the way in which the parties make
their final decisions based on the scenarios with which they have been
provided. This may take the form of a vote.
How is it that the final decision made though compromise is enforceable?...
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