Political Philosophy - Politics, Government & State

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Political Philosophy Government and Politics

There are almost as many definitions of politics as there are authorities willing to offer

an opinion on the subject. Politics has been portrayed as the exercise of power of

authority, as a process of collective decision making, as the allocation of scarce

resources, as an arena of deception and manipulation and so forth. A number of

characteristics crop up in most, if not all, these definitions.

Firstly politics is an activity although politics is also an academic subject it is the

study of the !activity" of politics.

#econdly politics is a social activity.

$here spontaneous agreement or natural harmony occurs, politics cannot be found.

Politics is about decisions collective decision which are in some way regarded as

binding upon a group of people. Power is a crucial concept in studying politics. %o

matter how primitive people are, there is always an une&ual distribution of powerwithin a state or community.

Government

'owever politics is defined, govt. is undoubtedly central to it. !To govern" in the

broadest sense, is to rule or exercise control over others. The activity of govt. therefore

involves the ability to make decisions and to ensure that they are carried out. (ovt.

exists whenever and wherever ordered rules occurs ex. #chool, family etc. govt. as such

can be identified with a set of established and permanent institutions whose function is

to maintain public order and undertake collective action. The institutions of govt. are

concerned with the making, implementation and interpretation of law, law being a setof enforceable rules that are binding upon society. All systems of government therefore

encompass three functions) first, legislation or the making of laws* secondly, the

execution or implementation of laws* and thirdly the interpretation of law, the

adjudication of its meaning. +n some systems of government, these functions are carried

out by separate institutions the legislature, the executive and the judiciary but in

others they may all come under the responsibility of a single body, such as a !ruling"

party or even a single individual such as a dictator. +n some cases however, the

executive branch of government alone is referred to as !the (overnment", making

government almost synonymous with the !rulers" or !the governors". (overnment is

thus identified more narrowly with a specific group of ministers or secretaries,

operating under the leadership of a chief executive.

There are those who argue that govt. of any kind is both oppressive and unnecessary.

ost people accept without &uestion that govt. is necessary, assuming that without it

orderly and civili-ed existence would be impossible. 'owever, the widespread

occurrence of govt. and its almost uncritical acceptance worldwide does not in itself

prove that an ordered and just society can only exist through the agency of govt. there

is one school of thought that follows that govt. is unnecessary and wants to bring about

it abolition this is anarchism, anarchy literally meaning !without rule".

'obbes $ithout govt. society would descend into a civil war !of every man against

every man".


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!#tate of %ature" life in the state of nature as being !solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and

short," 'obbes says that humans if unrestrained by law seek to advance there own

interests at the expense of their fellow human. /ven the strongest would never be

strong enough to live in security and without fear. 0uite simply, without govt. to

restrain selfish impulses, order and stability would be impossible.'obbes suggested that recogni-ing this rational individuals would seek to escape from

chaos and disorder by entering into an agreement with one another, a !social contract"

through which a system of govt. can be established . #ocial contract theorists see govt.

as necessary defense against evil and barbarity.

+n the anarchist view, however, government and all forms of political authority are not

only evil but also unnecessary. Anarchists hold a more optimistic conception of human

nature, stressing the capacity for rational understanding, compassion and co1operation.

Anarchist believe that in the state of nature, a !natural" order will therefore prevail,

making a political order &uite unnecessary. #ocial harmony will spontaneously develop

as individuals recognise that the common interests that bind them are stronger that theselfish interests that divide them, and when disagreements do occur they can be

resolved peacefully through rational debate and discussion. +ndeed, anarchists see

government not as a safeguard against disorder, but as the cause of conflict, unrest and

violence. 2y imposing rule from above, government represses freedom, breeding

resentment and promoting ine&uality.

Forms of Government

Although all govt. have the objection of ensuring orderly rule, they do so in very

different ways.

Aristotle (ovt. can be placed in the hands of a single individual, a small group or

many. +n each case however, govt. can be conducted either in the selfish interests of the

rulers or for the benefit of the entire community. As a result Aristotle defined 3 forms

of govt.

Tyranny, 4ligarchy and democracy are all debased or perverted forms of rule, in

which, they govern in their own inters and therefore at the expense of others.

onarchy, aristocracy and polity govern in the interests of all.

Political Philosophy: The State

The term state can be used to refer to institutions a territorial unit a historical entity a

philosophical idea and so on. The state is defined as a political sovereign association

operating in a defined territory.

The precise relationship between state and govt. is highly complex. There are profound

differences about the proper function or role of the state what should be done by the

state and what should be left to private individuals.

There is a distinction between a nation and a state. The former is an ideal entity who

has a perception of common values among people who do not necessarily have a state.

%ations have a shared language, religion and culture but they may not necessarily be a

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state. Prior to independence we were always a nation but we became a state after

independence was gained because we had our own head of state making our own laws

and answerable to no one but to us for our own mistakes and doings. A nation shares

ties, bonds, language, culture and common identity irrelevant of the territory which is

formally called 6 or 7.

Government and the state

The state is often defined narrowly as a separate institution or set of institutions as what

is commonly thought of as !the state". The state stands for the apparatus of govt. in its

broadest sense, for those institutions that are recogni-ably !public" in that they are

responsible for the collective organi-ation of communal life and are funded at the

public"s expense. Thus the state is usually distinguished from civil society. The state

comprises the various institutions of govt. the bureaucracy, the military, police, courts

etc8it can be identified with the entire !body politic".

The state is best thought of not just as a set of institutions but as a particular kind ofpolitical association, specifically one that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within

defined territorial borders. The defining feature of the state is sovereignty, its absolute

and unrestricted power. The state commands supreme power in that it stands above all

other associations and groups in society, its laws demand the compliance of all those

who live within the territory.

+n addition to sovereignty states can be distinguished by the particular form of authority

that they exercise. Firstly, state authority is territorially limited i.e. states claim

sovereignty only within there own borders. #econdly the jurisdiction of the state within

its borders is universal it applies to everyone. Thirdly states exercise compulsory

jurisdiction i.e. those living within a state rarely exercise choice about whether or not to

accept its authority. Finally state authority is backed up by coercion.

(ovt. can be seen as merely part of the state. oreover the state is a continuing even

permanent entity. 2y contrast govt. is temporary. 4n the other hand although govt. may

be possible without a state the state is inconceivable in the absence of govt. As a

mechanism through which collective decisions are enacted, govt. is responsible for

making and implementing state policy. (ovt. is in effect the brain of the state* it gives

authoritative expression to the state.

The distinction between the state and govt. goes to the very heart of constitutional rule.

The state supposedly reflects the permanent interests of society 1 the maintenance ofpublic order, social stability, long1term prosperity and national security while govt. is

inevitably influenced by the partisan sympathies and ideological preferences of the

politicians who happen to be in power.

According to Plato, Aristotle and 9awls the role of the state is to see that justice is

maintained. There is a negotiation followed by a rational constraint ensuring the

maximum liberty for everybody. :ustice ensures a fair society through the rational

thought of the citi-ens. 9awls states that in such a society there is the max. Profit for

the people in private enterprise in conjunction with the max. 2enefit to those in society

at the bottom of the heap. Through taxation moreover one would ideally be

redistributing this profit to embitter society.

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9obert %o-ick goes completely against this idea because he claims that the claim of

justice has nothing to do with the redistribution of wealth. +f money is gained legally

not even the state has the right to impose taxation over it because in this case it would

be theft. To %o-ick the sate should be the night watchman and has no business in the

distribution of wealth.


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Communist manifesto) !the executive of the modern state is but a committee for

managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie".

The most radical condemnation of state power is however, found in the writings of

anarchists. The latter believes that the state and indeed all forms of political authorityare both evil and unnecessary. They view the state as a concentrated form of

oppression) it reflects nothing more than the desire of those in power, often loosely

referring to as the !ruling classes, to subordinate others for their own benefit. +n the

words of the thcentury 9ussian anarchist ichael 2akhunin, the state is ! the most

flagrant, the most cynical and the most complete negation of humanity".

Thus)

9adicalBextreme liberal Cvs. totalitarian radicalBextreme authoritarianD) the state

takes over and assumes all roles in society and eliminates all institutions into one.

The police, army and all are taken over by the state.


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authority. +n most $estern societies this has led to the emergence of !managed

capitalism". +n practice, this means that the state should only promote competition and

ensure stable prices by regulating the supply of money. argaret Thatcher stated that

!the state provides for individual needs from the cradle to the grave".

The most extreme form of state control is found in totalitarian states. The essence of

totalitarianism is the construction of an all1embracing state, whose influence penetrates

every aspect of human existence, the economy, education, culture, religion, family life

and so forth. Totalitarian states are characterised by a pervasive system of ideological

manipulation and a comprehensive process of surveillance and terrorist policing. +n

effect, totalitarianism amounts to the outright abolition of civil society, the abolition of

the private, a goal which only fascists, who wish to dissolve individual identity within

the social whole, are prepared openly to endorse. +n one sense, totalitarianism sets out

to politicise very aspect of human existence. +t seeks to establish comprehensive state

control. 'owever, in another sense, it can be regarded as the death of politics, in that its

goal is a monolithic society in which individuality, diversity and conflict are abolished.

Summary:

Politics involves diversity, conflict and attempts to resolve conflict. $hile some

have seen politics as narrowly related to the affairs of government or to a public

sphere of life, others believe that it reflects the distribution of power or resources

and so can be found in every social institution.

(overnment refers to ordered rule, a characteristic of all organised societies. First

world liberal1democratic forms of government can be distinguished from state

socialist second world and various forms of third world government, though suchdistinctions have been blurred by developments such as the fall of communism.

The state is a sovereign political association operating in a defined territorial area.

+n the view of pluralists, the liberal democratic state acts impartially and responds

to popular pressures. 'owever, others suggest that the state is characterised by

biases which either systematically favour the bureaucracy or state elite or benefit

major economic interests.

The role of the state is perhaps the dominant theme of party politics disagreement,

reflecting different views about the proper relationship between the state and the

individual. $hile some wish to roll back the state and leave matters in the hands of

individuals and the market, other s want to roll it forward in the cause of social justice

and widespread prosperity.

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Political Philosophy - Politics, Government & State