Politics as a Practice - Essay Example

“Politics as practice, whatever its professions, has always had been the systematic organization of hatred” is a statement derived from The Education of Henry Adam. This suggests that politics are always structured along triggering the prejudice of those involved in spite of philosophical ideals. The systematic organization of hatred is quite evident in the world today and in the political scene. A primary definition for the word politics includes all activities or actions targeting influencing opinions held by individual members of a population with the objective of gaining control or support (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). From this definition, it is clear that politics exist only in the presence of divided popular opinions.

Political philosophy is a principal ideology defining how best to manage collective institutions such as government, economic systems, and other social structures (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). It involves individual or collective analysis and interpretation of ideas like freedom, justice, authority, and democracy followed by the application of the derived meaning in collective institutions (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). The term prejudice refers to inflexible and often irrational opinions held by someone or a section within a population. The provocative question from this analysis of the above quote can be stated as: Is politics governed through political philosophies or merely a systematic organization of prejudices?

Political philosophies are defined around reflection on prevailing social and political issues. Philosophers meditate on the in-depth meaning of such conditions and their implication to resource distribution and human interactions (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). For instance, during the industrial revolutions that finally led to urbanization, ecoeconomistsnomist pforondered between private property ownership versus collective ownership that existed. Some supported capitalism engaging in the popularization of this philosophy against communism and all this is due to the systematic organization of hatred involved with politics (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). Capitalism dominated over communism based on positive implications in motivating individual and collective economic growth.

During this era, political leadership complies with either of these two philosophies (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). Another example is the debate between having absolute separation between church and politics which prevailed mainly in the 19th century when religious missionaries were used to gain political control of new territories. The absolute separation of the two institutions was perceived to allow for independent control and monitoring of events in each objectively (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). The integration of church issues in politics and vice versa was supported in the view of ensuring ethical political conduct and institutionalization of church issues, it lead to the compromise of the same factors due to the subja active approach to problem-solving.

Currently, globalization and increased social liberalization have elicited varied opinions supporting social permissiveness and conservative social structures. Democracy has been advocated as the political philosophy that offers allows leadership to thrive through gaining majority support based on ideologies that best address individual freedom of expression (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). Conservative political leaders insist on strict adherence to established structures with minimal adjustment to fit the context (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). Based on these arguments politics is based on philosophical ideas. Democracy gains more popularity due to advantages that include allowing individual freedom within organizations and equal representation of stakeholders.

Despite this philosophical approach to politics, it remains undefined whether these philosophies have universal validity or are just representations of sections within society. Are they based on inherent human characteristics? Are these ideologies based on selfish interests or universal interests? How do they influence prevailing social culture? Are they taken as an integral part of economic and social systems? How do politicians gain majority support for their preferred ideologies?

Responding to this array of philosophical questions required detailed analysis and reflection on the methodologies applied. Politics prevails in the presence of opinion differences with each section highlighting positive aspects of their ideologies. Implications of such ideologies to policy formulations and implementation form the basis for economic and resource decision-making. This strategy is effective in earning support from professionals who are adequately informed of significant aspects of ideology effectiveness (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). These groups form a relatively small percentage with the majority being uninformed of basic concepts in the ideologies. As a strategy to compensate for this information gap, politicians emphasize more on the negative aspect of opposing opinions with the intention of earning support for their ideologies. This is how prejudices and political hatred are developed (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300).

Political activities are often associated with conjured images of problems, disruptions, violence, deceit, and manipulation of the masses. Politicians specialize in the art of compromise to portray their ideologies and are preferred in solving social deficits and imbalances associated. Prejudices are developed through socialization. Elements of mass socialization such as media: prints and electronics are used in peddling stereotypes regarding certain groups and their associated behaviors. Mass socialization targets creating popular culture utilizing the intrinsic human need to interact. Pressure to conform always leads to irrational thinking and disregarding facts about issues (Cahn & Talisse, 15-300). The economic benefit associated with holding or supporting certain political ideologies. Often political leaders influence the direction in which public administration takes. Influential personality creates a greater impact on social issues rather than their subjects.

In conclusion, politics remains a combination of both philosophical reflections hence ideologies. Factual details concerning prevailing public issues create insight into the rational analysis of the same. However, these ideologies are peddled on the basis of interaction with the objective of influencing opinions. Biases thrive on creating prejudices through media forming an essential factor in socialization and the creation of a popular culture with globalization as a product of widespread conformity to economic and social systems. From the above analysis, it is quite true that “Politics as practice, whatever its professions, has always had been the systematic organization of hatred”. Prejudice in politics is responsible for the systematic organization of hatred in politics regardless of the professionals involved.