Understanding the Nature of Politics - Essay Example

Political Science Name Course Professor’s name Date Introduction Power is a fundamental component of our work as activists and organizers. In circumstances where individuals are dealing with elected officials, corporate executives, landlords or school boards, they are dealing with matters of power (Dahl 201-205). The concept power has proven to be very difficult to describe as it has multiple sources. Power plays a significant responsibility in shaping majority of social associations and in deciding individuals with the role of answering major economic, social and environmental questions. Frequently, power is seen at work in very obvious and direct ways and it operates in hidden and observable ways through ideas, cultural practices and norms which perpetuates subsisting power linkages and which discourage questions regarding, or challenges posed to such power linkages (Strange 23-42). The concept power, based on political and economic institutions, has more to do with authority, influence or control over others (Holsti 144-159). A presupposition regarding power in our community is that disparate power linkages are components of the natural order of things, thus, are unchangeable and inevitable (Dahl 201-205). In this case it can be argued that, power linkages are not founded in nature, nevertheless, are socially constructed and thus, are changeable. This paper will focus on the faces of power and highlight which face of power is the most salient in understanding the nature of politics. Furthermore the paper will assess the implications for the findings on research and methodology. Power-over and power-with Power-over finds it roots in traditional time. Power-over exists in circumstances whereby a person has power over the other individuals because of their position. For instance, an employer has power over the staffs due to the fact that he may fire them, in housing, realtors, lenders, landlords have power over their tenants as they can control who obtains housing. However, creating housing cooperation’s, organizing tenants and forming unions can assist to shift power in linkage to housing and jobs as they exercise power with. Power-with stresses on collective action and inter-dependence amongst members of the community, workers and constituencies as a method of expanding and shifting power for the benefit of the majority, rather than for the good of the few (Bachrach and Baratz 633-42). Power and organizing In order to create more equitable and just power relations, which are founded on power-with, it is essential to build and exercise collective power amongst various groups (Jessop 220-47). Labour groups and community organizing for environmental and economic justice are attempting to modify power relations through establishing power for communities and workers, identity-based groups amongst others who frequently are not involved in decision making which impacts their lives, and when campaigns and organizing result to victories for our constituencies and communities, people experience a sense of collective power that opens up novel possibilities (Strange 23-42). Individuals usually feel powerless to modify their lives conditions if their lacks a means of collective actions. The faces of power Analysis of power can be founded on a conceptual framework referred to as three faces of power. The three faces of power include direct political involvement, organizational infrastructure, and ideology and worldview (Holsti 144-159). This conceptual framework may be employed in for evaluation and critical analysis of group activities, associations amongst coalition partners, issue campaigns, and reframing matters in a wider global context. In order to build progressive power, it is a requirement to shift resources and time from the first face into the second and third faces of power. The first face of power: direct political involvement in decision-making When we submerge ourselves into the aspects of direct political participation and how a society is able to participate in decision making we can not afford to ignore the fact that it is invariably impossible for all the groups in the community to play a direct role and this is only made possible by the existence of a political platform from where the mass can chose those they deem will represent their interest totally and comprehensively (Bachrach and Baratz 633-42). These representatives be it the legislators, executives or public officials all act in a similar capacity because the bottom line is they are all involved in one way or another in decision making and in such acting on behalf of a specific group. Through political parties the public can directly participate in choosing their representatives who will air their views and standpoints on various matters in the national arena (Jessop 220-47). Other interest groups also participate in decision making by advocating for certain legislations and holding the peoples representatives on their toes as by making sure that they account and are responsible for their actions and responsibility (Gill and Law 475-99). The presence of rules and regulations that guide the actions be it of legislation or political activities the it means that this process of decision making pulls a lot of weight and this can be supported by the fact that wealthy individuals, companies and corporations strive to have as much influence as possible (Jessop 220-47). This continually undermines the idea of justice, fairness and democracy. Second face of power; where organizations are used to shape political decisions This second face encompasses the force that determines what is discussed on the table at the end of the day. It also involves the decision on whose agenda will be given priority and which one will be left. The mighty will continually struggle to shape what is discussed at national bodies that make decisions to reap the benefits that accrue when their wellbeing is catered for and their interest upheld (Holsti 144-159). The wealthy and the elite in the society will also want to avoid the deliberation of some issues that in one way or another may not augur well for their power or may jeopardize their status quo. When it comes to such matters, then the civil societies become interested parties with the political infrastructure being another important aspect (Strange 23-42). Just how does these forces affect decision making and how do they wield their power? That is the question that comes to our mind when we start delving in the issues of civil societies as compared to all the other interested parties. Business organizations, companies, corporations, trade unions and other entities with common agenda join so that they can amplify their voice and make their effect to be felt by the decision making body. These entities will create networks and other possible avenues so that can manage to push for agendas that impact positively on their wellbeing and operations. This is what then that leads us to the aspect of the political infrastructure which is the agglomeration of their interest at the highest level basically for collective bargaining (Dahl 201-205). Political infrastructure entails all the interested parties, be it business entities , corporations, religious groups or even trade unions, their networks and channel of coordination from the highest to the lowest level of political organization (Dahl 201-205). The networks between these entities may be so efficient to the extent that they are able to push for their interest even to the highest decision making body. The third face of power where the world view is used to shape agendas This encompasses the power that channels peoples mind and shape their understanding of the global and being conscious of their interest. It keeps the mass from figuring themselves as the drivers of change and even change as an alien that cannot be altered and as such not even possible. This form of power works on the premise of knowledge of the world’s viewpoint, standards on various issues, values, tradition or even culture. This form of power is practiced through bodies and institution that instill understanding to the people of the world (Bachrach and Baratz 947-52). The peoples understanding of certain aspects invariably shapes their standpoint on various issue be it political, social or even economic matters. When we have a dominant belief in the world not every one will accept it at face value but will be evaluated meticulously so that the compatibility with social norm is determined and as such it may be either accepted or rejected. For example though socialism ideologies were correlating with most of the African culture it was hard to propagate in Africa as aspect of African culture and applicability were difficult to perform. Beside capitalism being the dominant worldview was able to override socialism (Holsti 144-159). So although there were varying way of looking at economic matters capitalism was accepted by many societies. When matters of balancing power at all level comes into question such dogmas must be analyzed and subjected to thorough scrutiny before their application so that their consequences that maybe turn to be disastrous can be averted (Bachrach and Baratz 947-52). This should be the case because those who feel that their interest is being sidelined use the worldview to propagate their ideals which in actual sense maybe rejected in their home lands. Critically analyzing the first, second and third face of power then there arises a gap, and this void can only be filled by those who are either directly or indirectly left out by the system. Then we would be right to put them in the bracket of the powerless in the society. In actual sense this group is not powerless the only problem is that there is no avenue through which they can air their voices or grievances and even in instances where they are given a hearing there ideas are taken for granted or ignored altogether (Bachrach and Baratz 633-42). This group is therefore omitted in the decision making, since they lack the right avenue for participation. The question that begs an answer then is how then can this group under this category wield power or at least become part of the decision makers directly or indirectly. From the aforementioned we can conclude that this state of powerlessness is mainly brought by the isolation by the rest of the groups in the society. This means that to solve this conundrum ways of coming together to collectively fight for their ideas and interest need to be mooted .Most of the times this group of people more often than not lack avenues to join hands or come together to participate in the social and economic programmes (Bachrach and Baratz 633-42). The main setback is that the powerful lot will do everything possible to make sure this they don’t have opportunity to come together. Through determination and active political participation and progressively searching for avenues to make their effect to be felt the and only then will this isolated group will move from the brackets of powerlessness to political consciousness. The most salient face of power for understanding the nature of politics In order to better understand the most significant face of power for understanding the nature of politics, it is essential to initially understand the nature of politics itself. Politics is considered to be a domain of itself- the power domain; therefore, it is not esthetics, morality nor economics. Just like the other forms of thought, research has revealed politics to be an approach of thinking (Hay 168-193). The manner in which politics split the globe is in to enemy and friend, thus it is deemed as a form of thought that expresses for the greatest possible level of connection, and the greatest possible level of separation. Basing the explanation in terms of psychological fact, the enemy is seen as injurious, ugly and evil, however, this is supplementary to politics, and thus does not destroy the freedom of political activity and thinking. The political disjunction, concerned with subsistence is the greatest of all disjunctions and as a result has the habit of seeking all kinds of compulsion, persuasion, and justification so as to move its actions forward (Hay 168-193). Nevertheless, the degree into which this takes place is directly linked with the purity of political thoughts amongst leaders. For instance, if their outlooks consist of economic, moral amongst other ways of thinking, they will be at greater extent employ propaganda to enhance their political objectives. Research has revealed that in most circumstances, such persons are not conscious whether or not their actions are political. The nature of politics is revealed by specific linguistic facts that appear in various western languages. Regularly and obviously, the ideas, concepts, and vocabulary of a political group are polemical propagandistic (Holsti 144-159). Such notions as king, state, society and class have their polemical content and furthermore, have a wholly diverse meaning to partisans. In this case, the most significant face for understanding the nature of politics is the second face of power. The second face encompasses the force that determines what is discussed on the table at the end of the day. It also involves the decision on whose agenda will be given priority and which one will be left. The mighty will continually struggle to shape what is discussed at national bodies that make decisions to reap the benefits that accrue when their wellbeing is catered for and their interest upheld (Dahl 201-205). The wealthy and the elite in the society will also want to avoid the deliberation of some issues that in one way or another may not augur well for their power or may jeopardize their status quo (Strange 23-42). When it comes to such matters, then the civil societies become interested parties with the political infrastructure being another important aspect. Political infrastructure entails all the interested parties, be it business entities , corporations, religious groups or even trade unions, their networks and channel of coordination from the highest to the lowest level of political organization. Implications of the answer for research methodology When we want to study the nature of politics we have to follow a certain pattern so that all the contextual aspects are brought out properly. This would mean that we have to use the most salient face of power. The research methodology encompasses not only the techniques that are used to gather information but also why the methods are selected and why others are left out. The second face of power where by the agendas that are discussed for decision making are determined by a particular group would give us the most comprehensive understanding on the nature of politics and power. This means that the legislations and decisions that are made by the decision making body are shaped to a great deal on what is brought on their tables for discussion (Dahl 201-205). The political infrastructure is therefore a crucial factor as the various parties want to advance their ideology and ideas (Gill and Law 475-99). This sequence of events on how the varying groups try to be part of the decision making as much as can be practically possible brings out the best methodology to apply in order to clearly understand the nature of politics and how decision are made. Conclusion It is apparent that power plays a significant responsibility in shaping majority of social associations and in deciding individuals with the role of answering major economic, social and environmental questions. The concept power, based on political and economic institutions, has more to do with authority, influence or control over others. A presupposition regarding power in our community is that disparate power linkages are components of the natural order of things, thus, are unchangeable and inevitable. The three faces of power as discussed in this paper include include direct political involvement, organizational infrastructure, and ideology and worldview. As pointed out in the paper, critically analyzing the first, second and third face of power then there arises a gap, and this void can only be filled by those who are either directly or indirectly left out by the system then we would be right to put them in the bracket of the powerless in the society. Furthermore, the second face of power has proved to be the most significant for understanding the nature of politics. Works Cited Bachrach, P. and Baratz, M., Two Faces of Power, American Political Science Review 56 (1962): 947-52. Bachrach, P. and Baratz, M., Decisions and Non-Decisions, American Political Science Review 57 (1963): 633-42. Dahl, R. The Concept of Power, Behavioural Science 2 (1957): 201-05. Gill, S. and Law, D., Global Hegemony and the Structural Power of Capital, International Studies Quarterly 33 (1989): 475-99. Hay, C, Political Analysis, pp. 168-93. Holsti, Kalevi J., Power, Capability, and Influence, International Politics: A Framework for Analysis, 4th edition, pp. 144-59. Jessop, B., Poulantzas and Foucault on Power and Strategy in State Theory, pp. 220-47. Strange, S., Power in the World Economy, in States and Markets, pp. 23-42 Read More