What is political development and how is it classified

Political development is an increase in the ability of the political system to adapt to new social goals, to the creation of new institutions that provide more effective communication between the government and the population.

Previously, the problems of political development were dealt with by representatives of the general sociological trend, and it was called the "sociology of development." As for the methodological foundations, they were laid by F.Tennis, M. Weber and T. Parsons. According to this direction, traditional and modern types of societies were distinguished . Tradition and habit play the main role in the structure of the first species, because it is characterized by relative stability. In modern society, the main structural element is a person, not a group: he chooses his place of work and residence, and the sphere of activity is outside the family.

Political development is directly related to the analysis of the political process from its global aspect. This concept appeared in scientific usage in the twentieth century, in its second half, and was intended to reflect the dynamics of political life and its main changes.

There are certain criteria for this concept, which Pai (USA) singled out. They sound like this:

1. Structural differentiation.
2. Increase in the systemic ability to mobilize and survive.
3. Political development aimed at establishing equal rights of people's participation in the activities of the state.

The principles of this concept differ from the features of development in social and economic terms. In particular, development in the field of politics is irreversible and has its own criteria. It is also characteristic that this process can not be the same in different systems.

Let us note that political development does not always change synchronously. Sometimes the tendency to equality leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the system. Very often ensuring the proper level of economic development leads to limited political representation and the expression of the interests of the group.

Political development and modernization are two interrelated concepts. So, modernization is understood as a set of processes on the basis of which new political requirements develop as an opportunity to maintain regular changes. This is due to the development of many similar qualities that are inherent in modern systems and are integral conditions for modernization.

Political modernization is characterized by several evolutionary stages:

1. The concept originated in the 50-60s of the 20th century. Its main directions at that time were the following: democratization of the political system on the basis of the Western model, active mutual work between developed and developing countries.
2. The second half of the sixties, which is characterized by the definition of the main shortcomings of initial research in the field of political modernization. Attempts to correct these errors led to the development of a qualitatively different understanding of the essence of this process.
3. The end of the seventies of the twentieth century, the concept turned into a general model for the development of civilization, the basis of which was covered in describing the transition from traditional features of society to modern ones. At that time, the theory of modernization was developed by Almond, Verba and Pai.

Political development differs from political modernization in that:

1. The second concept is applicable to states that are in the stage of transition to an industrial and postindustrial society.
2. Modernization is directly related to the concepts of social mobilization and political participation, and not to the formation of political institutions.