What is the relationship of politics and power? The concept of politics and power

It is believed that politicians are engaged in the struggle for power. To a certain extent, we can agree with this. However, the matter is much deeper. Let's see what the connection between politics and power is. How to approach the understanding of the laws by which they function?

What is politics?

We need to understand the essence of the terms being studied. Otherwise, it is impossible to understand what is the connection between politics and power. A modern understanding of these concepts arose in ancient Greece. Aristotle called politics an essay on the state or rulers. Much later, the Italian Machiavelli proposed the definition of a new science. He called it politics. It is the art of managing a kind of community united by common territory, rules and traditions, that is, state education. At different times, the essence of politics was trying to understand and define great minds. Thus, Bismarck argued in absentia with Aristotle. He, as a practitioner, assured me that politics has more art than science. Creativity, most likely, really is its component. The concept of politics and power is closely intertwined. The latter, in the broadest sense of the word, acts as a link between certain subjects on governance issues. On the other hand, the authorities consider the possibility of enforcing their own will. In the narrow sense it is an organized tool for introducing rules to the society that are mandatory for all. At the same time, the instrument of power is politics. It allows groups or leaders to dominate the society, to take the leading positions.

The Role of Power in Politics

It is necessary to understand that the structure of relations is constantly becoming more complicated. With the emergence of the concept of democracy, the laws of politics and power have undergone changes. For example, in a monarchic state, there was no need to enlist the support of the population in making decisions. The sovereign dictated his own will, which the society equated with the divine, that is, there was no legitimate political opposition in power. The monarch offered the people ideas, and refusing them meant to commit treason. Democracy brought the institution of power to a different level. To get the opportunity to influence the development of the country, it is necessary to attract the population to its side. From this point of view, the concept should be slightly expanded: politics is a power struggle carried out by large groups, in some cases by nations or social strata. We have come to the conclusion that both phenomena have a reciprocal relationship. On the one hand, politics acts as an instrument of power, on the other hand it is a means of achieving the latter. That is, one can not consider one without the other. Power always influences the art of politics, no matter who conducts it. Here it is necessary to address in more details the concept of domination of someone's will. And it is precisely in the literature that the concept of power is deciphered .

Four components

When a group of people needs to work out common rules, agree on the order, we can talk about power. It appears in the course of the natural historical development of the social system. That is constantly becoming more complicated and reaches such a time when it is impossible to maintain the order necessary to everyone without a center. Administrative powers are concentrated in the generally recognized body exercising authority. And the people themselves give them and support relative legitimacy in that they obey his decisions. It turns out that power is the center of concentration of management. Politics also acts as an instrument for implementing its decisions in society. The system of power relations consists of such components:

• Presence of partners (individual or collective);
• System for monitoring the implementation of the will;
• Submission to management decrees;
• Establishment of universally recognized norms and rules that legitimize the right to give orders.

Policy Functions

We'll come from the other side. To understand what is the relationship of politics and power, it is necessary to look at the functions of the first. After all, it densely enters the life of society and the state. The policy performs the following roles (functions):

• Carries out the expression of interests of all members (strata, groups) of the population;
• Directs citizens in the direction of maintaining order, educates them in social activity;
• Ensures the development of regions and the whole country.

Example

For a more complete understanding of the issue, let's consider theoretically the system of elections in any democratic country. As a rule, parties that express interests of certain groups of the population are fighting for power. They need to gain more votes than opponents. To do this, each of the parties develops their own program, trying to interest the population. They advertise their own political platform. After the elections, those who received power are put into practice. So, they fulfill the promises given to voters. As a rule, society expects that the policy of the new government will differ from that of the previous one. That is, the state will change the direction of development to the side preferred by the majority of the population. Here politics has become the method of achieving power, then the way it is implemented in society. In practice, of course, everything is much more complicated than in our hypothetical case.

Conclusion

We tried to understand what the relationship between politics and power is. The topic is quite complicated, if you approach it in detail. However, we managed to understand one thing: power and politics are inextricably linked. They are part of the organizational platform of functioning of modern society, and at the same time create mechanisms for the existence of equilibrium in it.