The Undisputed Power of Politics - Essay Example

Number The Undisputed Power of Politics Politics is a system of recognizing and, in the long run, reconciling conflicting interests within an organization. Rival interests can be organized to reconcile through many means. For instance, resorting to managerial rule might be perceived as a paradigm of totalitarian rule. On the other hand, politics might be a means of emulating a work environment that is democratic. ‘Political power’ is a word that has been in the airwaves for the better part of the past and present century. Political power is a form of power practiced by a set of people in a society. This allows the leaders to exercise administrative control of some or all communal resources, together with labor and capital. Maintaining political power has been a reality in many organizations, and while this practice might superficially come out to be wasted time, it is essential in securing resources, development of ideas, achievement of individual goals, and frequently improving one’s status. It is immature to look forward to being able to be detached from managerial politics, since it is the offspring of maintaining political power. Someone might gain respect for doing so, but the development would be limited and regarded as an uncomplicated target. A ruler like Machiavelli practiced politics in such a way that he had to maintain his prowess. Those who yearn for power in any state of affairs may ape his strategies for unyielding aid. In his own words he used to say that a leader "...must stick to the good so long as he can, but, being compelled be necessity, he must be ready to take the way of the evil."(Machiavelli, 63). My objective in this essay is to explore the notion that politics is entirely about gaining and maintaining power, and by citing potential examples, this would come out clearly. CLASSIFICATION OF POWER Power can be classified into three forms. Coercive Power: this involves forcing somebody to act in accordance with ones wish. A prison would be a case in point of a coercive organization. Utilitarian Power: this is the power based on a scheme of rewards or penalties. Businesses, which pay increments, promotions, or threats of removal from office, are practically, utilitarian organizations. Normative Power: this is power which rests on the values of the members, and that the organization has a right to manage their actions. A religious organization would be an illustration of a utilitarian organization. Ways in which political enthusiasts acquire possession of such power. At the national level, political authority for political power is seized by the council of national dominion. When talking about political power, it is not necessarily limited to heads of states. However, the extent to which an individual or group such as a rebellion, terrorist group, or an international corporation seizes such power is associated with the amount of communal influence they can wield, either formally or informally. In most instances, this is not confined within a single state, and it refers to international power. Holding on political power is the likelihood that one actor, restricted by a social relationship, has the willpower to carry out his own determination despite confrontation. Maintaining power appears to involve a single individual changing the actions of one or more individuals, for the most part if those actions would not have occurred otherwise. Divide and rule (divide and conquer). In politics, this is a blend of political, economic and military strategy of gaining and maintaining power by shattering superior deliberation of power into portions that independently have less power that enforces the strategy. The idea refers to a strategy that splits existing power arrangements and thwart minor power assemblies from connecting. In modern times, divide and rule is a familiar belief in politics. The employment of this modus operandi is intended to give power to the supreme ruler to be in charge of subjects, common people, or sections of various interests, who cooperatively might resist his rule. In the appliance to military strategy, a ruler should make an effort with all his ability to split the enemy forces. This can be done either by making him suspect his trusted men, or by providing him with reasons that he has to detach his army, therefore, turning out to be weaker. The divide and rule strategy has been accredited to monarchs ranging like Louis XI and Habsburgs (Schneider, 2010). Fundamentals of this procedure entail: forming or encouraging splitting up among the rivals so as to put off coalitions that could confront the sovereign, and assisting and encouraging those who are geared up to work with the sovereign. Moreover, nurturing mistrust and hostility between neighboring rulers; encouraging pointless expenditures that lessen the capacity for political and military expenses. In the past, this strategy was employed in several ways by empires in quest of enlarging their territories. For instance, Rwanda and Burundi was ruled by both Germany and Belgium in a colonial competence. Germany used the divide and rule strategy by putting members of the Tutsi minority in spots of power. After Belgium took over in 1916, the two groups were reorganized with regard to race as an alternative to profession. Belgium described “Tutsi” as any person with over 10 cows or an extended nose, whereas “Hutu” meant any person with less than 10 cows and a large nose. The divide between the two communities persisted even after independence and was a key aspect during the Rwandan Genocide. (John A. Berry and Carol Pott Berry, 1999) Gaining and maintaining of political power through propaganda (Adolf Hitler). After Adolf Hitler’s unsuccessful endeavor to overthrow the German government through his National Socialist German Workers (NAZI) party, he got detained in prison. He returned, regained his party, and he eventually gained hundreds of thousands of followers. Germany was undergoing depression at that moment which resulted into acute unemployment. Germans needed urgent change, which made Hitler’s radical party much more attractive. Almost every civilian gave him support. Hitlers mastermind propaganda and outstanding public speaking talent gave him an additional advantage. In one of his quotes he said, “You will never learn what I am thinking. And those who boast most loudly that they know my thought, to such people I lie even more.” (Robert George and Leeson Waite 1993). German President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Germany’s chancellor due to public demand. Nazi influence escalated within 2 months only. As soon as the enabling act was passed by the Reichstag, the government had the power to disregard the constitution. This was the concluding shift in Hitlers ascend to full power. He stayed in power for many years, from beginning to end of a world war, until he took his life in 1945 as attacking Russians closed in on him. To maintain power, Adolf Hitler used propaganda, accusing the Jews to be wicked, and the Aryan origin and race to be righteous and just. He formed a celebrity faction for himself, liking himself to God. The media branded Hitler as Germanys everlasting, refutable savior. He suppressed all media e.g. radios, T.V and whatever thing that could be used to put on air any message against Nazi. He destroyed books by fire and other media written by Jews. He also sent off contentious authors to deliberation camps, and ensured that his autobiography, Mein Kampf, as well as pro-Nazi and anti-semitic books were extensively dispersed. His top secret police (the SS) were used to implement Hitlers radical policies. He had political opponents murdered, and any person who had the guts to defy him was initially prompted to go into exile. Furthermore, in his rule, rabble-rousers were condemned of betrayal and shot. Hitler used excessive force on the Romani and treated them more inhumanly Goldhagen (p. 175). PARSON’S FUNCTIONALISM AND POWER There are two essentials to Parsons view of power, (Parsons 232-262). First is the notion that power should be visualized in terms of "variable-sum". He explains the idea that power levels can be different within any society given that, as Parsons argues, power is somewhat "possessed by society as a whole". Secondly, as Parsons argues, power is regarded as a societal resource, just like any other resource in the society. For example, the populace accessible for work, the supply of raw materials for profitable production, and the birth and mortality rates are all, in their distinctive ways, to be community resources available to the people. In this sense, power stands for the ability to mobilize universal resources in society for the accomplishment of social goals. As a result, societies have broad, communal, developmental goals such as the need to increase living standards and eliminate poverty. The more these goals get fulfilled, the better the ranks of overall power that exists in society. For instance, the U.S. has been an authoritative nation specifically because it has been able, cooperatively, to comprehend various goals such as ideological homogeneity, territorial harmony and consensual government. It has had an efficient and effective value consensus on an assortment of goals and issues, mostly concerning economic success. According to Parsons, maintenance of power should be carried out in the broad interests of the entire society, and while some groups will be more influential than others, this is essential because the recognition of collective goals requires collaboration; collaboration requires organization; organization requires command, the capacity of commanding requires power. The survival of rival political parties means that each one of them will be a symbol of a fundamental sectional concern. For example, the Democratic Party appealing to commerce and the Republican Party representing controlled labor, the political organization itself includes several structural verifications and balances over the exercising of power. Examples are: political parties should adequately have a broad appeal to collect sufficient votes to emerge victorious in an election. Therefore, they have to widen their appeal to various sectional interests; most governments have to be re-elected to test their credibility. Therefore, the electorate can punish them by voting them out if cases of abuses of power arose during their term in office; governments function within the limits of some form of legal norms, either written, (American case) or informal, unwritten, (case of Britain). These norms symbolize the vital rules of egalitarian organization in society; self-governing and autonomous notable houses of government e.g., the Congress and Senate in America deliver checks to the power of government. In Europe, an extra layer of checks and balances is incorporated through the Treaty of Rome, the European Parliament, and so forth. CONCLUSION Developing and practicing power involve both will and skill. The will is what frequently seems to be missing. At the same time, administrators are unenthusiastic to recognize the place of power both in individual inspiration and managerial relationships. Political power becomes greater than ever concentrated, and massive political decisions concerning investment, civil rights, whether or not to go to war, etc, have been, in fact, taken by an undersized elite minority. All prosperous political players took power in their hands and controlled it successfully due to their rapport with their target population. Work Cited Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. New York NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948. Coauthor with David Hein. Essays on Lincolns Faith and Politics. Lanham, MD: Univ. Press of America for the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the Univ. of Virginia, 1983. Gene Sharp. The Politics of Nonviolent Action: Part One Power and Struggle (9th Printing, 2006 (Ed.). Boston: Extending Horizons Books, an imprint of Porter Sargent Publishers. p. 12 to 32. 1973. Goldhagen, Daniel. Hitlers Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York: Knopf. 1996. Talcott Parsons. “On the Concept of Political Power” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. 107, No. 3 (Jun. 19, 1963), American Philosophical Society pp. 232-262. Read More