Politics

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Politics is the process and conduct of decision-making for groups. Although it is usually applied to governments, political behavior is also observed in corporate, academic, religious, and other institutions. Political science is the study of political behavior and examines the acquisition and application of power, i.e. the ability to impose one's will on another.

History of politics

The biological genesis of politics

Politics predates human society.

Most primates live in groups and form "dominance hierarchies." Individuals with greater hierarchical status tend to displace those ranked lower from space, from food, and from mating opportunities. Thus higher status individuals tend to have greater reproductive success by mating more often and having more resources to invest in the survival of offspring.

These hierarchies are not fixed and depend on any number of changing factors, among them are age, gender, intelligence, and aggressiveness. Status may also be affected by the ability to marshal the support of others. Indeed, the need to maintain social position and social knowledge may be an impetus for the evolution of larger brains in humans.

Early human organized groups include families, clans, and tribes.

Urban revolution

V.G. Childe describes the transformation of human society that took place around 6000 BCE as an Urban Revolution. Among the features of this new type of civilization are: institutional social stratification (dominance hierarchy), non-agricultural specialised crafts (including priests and lawyers), taxation, and writing. All of which require densely populated settlements - cities.

While the word, "Politics" is derived from the Greek word for city, "Polis", it should be remembered that politics happens in every group undertaking. Corporate, religious, academic and every other polity, especially those constrained by limited resources, contain dominance hierarchies and therefore politics. However, politics is most often studied in the public administrative context.

The evolution of government: a Eurocentric perspective

The oldest form of government grew out of tribal organization. Rule by elders was supplanted by monarchy, an arrangement where a single family dominated the political affairs of a polity. Monarchies have existed in one form or another for the past 5000 years of human history.

Greeks developed democracy as a means of governance. However, Athenian direct democracy limited citizenship to free, male, landholders. Nevertheless, it still demonstrated the viability of government by the governed.

The Roman Republic is credited with significant innovation in forms of government. It was the first bicameral legislative system, which divided power between the patrician aristocracy and plebian general citizens. It also contained the beginnings of representative democracy, having various officers selected for fixed terms by popular election.

Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe reverted to feudal monarchy where the mailed fist ruled.

The Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution each increased the availability of education and leisure to otherwise disenfranchised classes along with a desire to participate in governance.

Karl Marx argued that this process of political progress will not be complete until classes no longer exist and every person is the master of his own fate.

Overall, this analysis suggests that progress, i.e. democratization, increases with the rise of an educated population that has time to devote to activities beyond simple survival.

Some useful concepts

Power

As noted, power is the ability to impose one's will on another. It implies a capacity for force, i.e violence.

Authority

Authority is the power to enforce laws, to exact obedience, to command, to determine, or to judge.

Legitimacy

Legitimacy is an attribute of government gained through the application of power in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles.

Government

A government is a body that has the ability to make and enforce rules or laws. A government's power is influenced by authority and legitimacy.

Sources of authority

Aside from slavery or occupation, where obedience is induced by the application of naked force, Max Weber identified three sources of authority (tripartite classification of authority). That is to say that he found three reasons that people followed the orders of those who gave them.

Traditional

Traditional authorities receive loyalty because they continue and support the preservation of existing values.

Traditional authority has the longest history. Patriarchical (and more rarely Matriarchal) societies gave rise to heriditary monarchies where authority was given to descendents of previous leaders.

Followers submit to this authority because "we've always done it that way." Examples of traditional authoritarians include kings and queens.

Note epecially Czar Ivan I of Russia who ascended to the throne at age three (when he was presumably incapable of making rational policy) and was given enough of a pass from that early age that he was able to rule for more than fifty years.

It should be noted, however, that all tradition must have a beginning. At some point in the past, the ancestors of all traditional authoritarians have conquered power by force, through the application of direct violence.

Charismatic

Charismatic authority grows out of the personal charm or the strength of an individual personality (see cult of personality for the most extreme version).

Charismatic regimes are often short lived, seldom outliving the charismatic figure that leads them.

Examples include Hitler, Napoleon, and Mao (however, Mao ruled long enough that his successors could invoke tradition as the source of their authority).

Napoleon Bonaparte is an especially illustrative case. He was a foreigner who took the place of a traditional authority and whose regime collapsed in his absence.

Legal-Rational

Legal-Rational authorities receive their ability to compel behavior by virtue of the office that they hold. It is the office that demands obedience rather than the office holder.

Modern democracies are examples of legal-rational regimes; in general, no person is above the law.

Conclusion

Machiavelli and George Washington Plunkett (consumate practioners both) have little quarrel with the above. It may seem cynical, it is also most certainly simplistic.

On the other hand, Paul Wellstone, an American practitioner, noted:

Politics is not about power. Politics is not about money. Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people's lives. It's about the advancing of the cause of peace and justice in our country and our world. Politics is about doing well for people.

Political systems and ideologies

Political entities

Major topics in political philosophy

Classical political theorists

Modern political theorists

Contemporary political theorists

Miscellaneous

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