I will be posting some of my Government and Politics essays up here for you to enjoy… or mock as the case may be! These are very time consuming to write, so I shall post these as an alternative to my Sunday articles.
Politics means different things to different people. To many, it is the narrow world of ministerial offices, parliamentary debates and elections. Contrastingly, others quote the familiar adage that “everything is political”, and claim that every decision we make about our lives is therefore a political action. A definitive answer to the above question is thus perhaps an impossibility, but it is nevertheless important to have one if one is to comprehend the mechanics behind the decision making and actions that affect every single one of us.
The Penguin Concise English Dictionary1 defines politics as being “the complex of relations between human beings in society”. These relations can be manifested in a number of different ways, which will be examined in this essay. Indeed, when the very existence of “society” in the conventional sense has been questioned, most famously by the late Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher2, the sheer range of perspectives on the nature of politics becomes self-evident.
Government and legislation
For as long as humans have lived in communities, there has been government. The existence of organised government is near-universal, though it takes various forms ranging from parliamentary democracies such as the UK to military dictatorships and monarchies such as the Maldives and Saudi Arabia respectively. All these governments control aspects of their people’s lives through legislation, policing and economic activity. Unsurprisingly, these processes and systems are the focus of political discussion and activity: after all, this is the clearest way in which the rules and conventions that shape society are determined.
For example, if there is widespread concern about a social problem, say, the public health implications of smoking, it is the government of the country that will come under pressure to pass laws to discourage it. This action is much more effective and noticeable than attempts by other elements of society to change public behavior. The strength of government relative to civil society (individuals and organisations that are independent of government3) varies from nation to nation, but there is always intense, and arguably excessive, centralisation of political debate on the actions of government. Politics also extends into areas which are less rigidly defined as legislation, resolutions and motions.
Public opinion
In both democratic and undemocratic systems, public opinion inevitably shapes the action of government and civil society, but it is also a heavily political sphere in itself. For it is not just elected representatives who are affected by public attitudes, but all who operate within society. Discussion through the conventional and new media, personal conversations and the environments in which ordinary people live are all factors which will affect their perception of society and the political aspects of their behavior.
The clearest example of this is the subtle way we are all governed by social convention, defined as “a regularity widely observed by some group of agents” by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy4. Most of us would not wear unwashed clothing for the same reason we would not eavesdrop on a stranger’s telephone conversation: such behavior would not be accepted by others-albeit for markedly different reasons! Similarly, though there were no British laws against unmarried couples having children, until a few decades ago such families would have been stigmatised as this was socially unacceptable. This is one of many such changes in attitudes that are political in nature, as peer pressure is often an even more powerful force on how we act than law.
Ideology and philosophy
Public opinion and government are both affected by the ideology and values adopted by individuals and groups. These range from detailed visions of how a future society should function to simpler (but no less sophisticated) notions such as generalised patriotism.
Despite an ever shrinking number of people- in Western societies at least- clearly identifying with an ideology such as socialism or conservatism, everyone has values which are derived from some ideological root or another. So, much as the British from birth are taught the importance of values such as ‘fair play’ and respect for others, those from a middle class background will place a high value on education. Are these values not just as political as one’s opinion on the distribution of the burden of taxation? After all, it is these core values upon which we build our lives and our relationships with others. Admittedly, it might be said that such a claim is based on a distortion of the term “ideology”, but this is debateable.
Accordingly, I would argue that one’s own politics is the holistic interpretation of the world through one’s ideology, however conscious one is of such an ideology. Likewise, a national/societal ideology, which in a pluralistic society is much more limited in scope than an individual’s, evolves and affects political discourse.
Civil society
Within any society, institutions and groups exist which all affect public life in one way or another. Businesses, clubs, charities, newspapers, co-operatives, trade unions…. these are all constituents of civil society. Of these, businesses are probably most intertwined with local, national, regional and global politics, particularly those with considerable economic clout. The corporate sector- which in most countries accounts for a majority or near-majority5 of the workforce- has formidable political influence. The placement of a new factory, the process of pay negotiations with employees, or the lobbying of government will always have a huge impact on thousands of lives. Businesses may have little to do with elections and have limited influence on the official government (at least in theory), but they are active political participants.
Lifestyle and consumer choices
If politics is the understanding, participation in and influence of the relationships between groups and individuals in a society (however that society is defined), then our definition of ourselves and our choices, together with others’ definitions must be a political decision. This is not limited to radical students spending a few months living on a kibbutz, though that lifestyle is very clearly based on a political approach. By driving a petrol car we are deciding that we place less importance on the environmental impact of that means of travel than we do on our transport needs. By purchasing a non-Fairtrade shirt, we place a low financial value on the labor that went into its production. By respecting the queue at a bus stop, we show consideration for others and respect for the value of order over self-interest. Of course these are trivial matters on an individual scale, but they are all aspects of our relationship with the world and the people within it, and therefore the matters are political ones.
Such logic is controversial, but it is embraced by those with various values such as ‘ethical consumers’, who refuse to buy products which were not produced, sold and transported in line with their political views6. Such a holistic approach to politics is unusual, but has nevertheless had some impact in the past. On the other hand, it could be argued that one should not be judged, on political grounds, for their consumer choices. It would seem that the majority of consumers are not moved by either argument, and will act against certain ethical failures but not others.
Conclusion
Politics is inseparable from human society, and it does apply to virtually every aspect of it. It is the world of links and relationships and the distribution of power that we all contribute to and in turn are governed, and to a certain extent, defined by. Politics depends on the fundamental notion that we can achieve more collectively than we can as disorganised and self-interested individuals, that we are in part mutually dependent and bonded by something stronger than mere geography. Obviously, one of the age-old political divides is over to what extent a society is “greater than the sum of its parts”, to borrow a phrase from the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Nevertheless, whether one sees politics as a means to move, in however small a way, towards a brighter future, or as something which is of little interest and relevance, we are all a part of it. That notion is the essential foundation of civilisation, and one which offers an optimistic perspective on what it is to be part of society: we all have the power to make life better for each other if we co-operate.
1Allen R. – The Penguin Concise English Dictionary- Penguin Books (2002).
2Thatcher M.- The Downing Street Years- HarperPress (1993)
3Sharp S,- From Dictatorship to Democracy- Serpent’s Tail (1993)
4Rescorla M.- The Stamford Encyclopedia of Philosophy- Stanford University (2007).
5Pocket World in Figures 2012- Economist Books (2011).
6Clark D.- The Rough Guide to Ethical Living- Rough Guides (2006)
