Politics
"A political system is any persistent pattern of human relationships that involves, to a significant extent, power, rule, or authority." (Dahl, 2001, p.14) Politics, we all agree, is a fact of life. Some people rejoice in this, seeing in political participation and government the possibility of building a better society, or at least of fulfilling some of their personal goals. Others lament the fact, viewing politics as a corrupt and debasing activity that is largely devoid of principle and more likely to be harmful and meddlesome than socially beneficial. Then there are those who neither rejoice in nor lament the pervasiveness and character of politics, but who simply do not care one way or another. If they think about politics at all it is probably to reflect on how little difference they could make to what gets done, or how incomprehensible the whole affair seems. Retreat into indifferences or ignorance, or both, is their way of 'dealing' with political life. Politics arises from the fact of scarcity. In the real world it is not possible for all of us to satisfy all of our desires to the fullest extent. Limits on the stock of those things that people desire ensures that conflicts will take place between rival claimants. These
37) Only one of these, 'liberal' democracy, is characterized by competition between political parties. Majority rule, government by popular consent, one person-one vote, and competitive elections are the political institutions usually associated with demographic government. If democracy is about equality, Macpherson argues, the developmental and communist versions are at least as democratic as the liberal version that we in the capitalist world automatically assume to be the genuine article. In full recognition of these hazards, I end with this. At some point, however, the protection of law and order may exact a high cost in terms of personal freedoms. s best interest (influence); or from recognition on the part of the compliant party that the person or organization issuing a command has the right to do so and should be obeyed (authority). But politics is about more than the fact of conflict. Politics, then, is the activity by which rival claims are settled by public authorities. When individuals perceive themselves as being members of particular social groups - whether a religious denomination, an ethnic or language group, a regional community, or whatever the group happens to be - in addition to sharing with everyone else a common citizenship, the likelihood of the democratic state being turned to oppressive ends is reduced. conflicts explain why politics comes about. Several complex elements come into play, so that defining the term 'democracy' is a perilous task. After all, all of us have a personal interest in the tolerance of social diversity because the rights and status of our own group depends on this. The boundaries of the political are defined by the scope of the state's authority to intervene in society.
Common topics in this essay:
,
French English,
CB Macpherson,
Ralfe I'm,
Roman Catholics,
Ralfe October,
China Iran,
Catholic Church,
Yes I've,
rights freedoms,
i'm worried,
Act FLQ,
political system,
political equality citizens,
particular social,
claims settled,
political parties,
compliant party,
formal political,
public realm,
rival claims settled,
ralfe i'm worried,
formal political equality,
power coercion,
|
Acceptance Essays
