The internal policy of the state. Directions of domestic policy. Politics and its role in the life of society Where did the concept of politics originate?

07.12.2020

The emergence of such a phenomenon as “politics” is due to the fact that society is asymmetric in its structure. The existence of various classes and social groups (professional, demographic, ethnic, etc.) with divergent or even directly opposite interests, aspirations, ideologies inevitably leads to their clash and struggle with each other.

The great ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle formulated the proposition that "... man by nature is a political being ...", which means that he is involved in political life to one degree or another. The only question is how consciously a person becomes the subject and object of politics, deliberately makes his political choice in certain situations.

Without politics, our life would turn into what the famous English thinker T.Hobbes called "the war of all against all", when the people are at war with the people, city against city, street against street, house against house and, finally, man against man. It is precisely this function of the self-preservation of society that politics performs.

« Politics"- one of the most common and ambiguous words both in Russian and in many other languages of the world. In everyday life, politics is often called any purposeful activity, whether it is the activity of the head of state, party or company, or even the attitude of a wife towards her husband, subordinated to a specific goal.

However, most people, using the term "politics", practically do not think about its true content. ancient greek political figure Pericles claimed:

“Only a few can make politics, but everyone can judge it.”

At the same time, the insidiousness of habitual words lies in the fact that, having become well-known, they often lose their original meaning. great german philosopher Georg Hegel warned: if something becomes common knowledge, then we do not know exactly what it is about. Regarding political terms, the Russian historian V. Klyuchevsky wrote that they have their own history, and we will inevitably fall into anachronism if, meeting them in historical monuments of a distant time, we understand them in the modern sense. This also applies to the understanding of the term "politics".

It is possible to comprehend the essence and content of the category "politics" at three levels.

At the ordinary level. In this case, the citizen creates the primary, background appearance of politics, which allows him to adapt to the politically organized community, to find ways of mutually accommodating his own goals in relations with the authorities and the state. Ordinary consciousness draws a "natural" picture of politics on the basis of individual empirical experience and traditionally established ideas, customs, and stereotypes.
At the scientific and theoretical level. Here a form of abstract thinking is formed, with the help of which a person builds in his mind ideas about the external and internal relations of politics on the basis of generalization and systematization of not individual, but intergroup and universal experience. The specificity of this level lies in the rational-critical understanding of political reality and the creation of such a picture of the world of politics that would describe and explain this phenomenon as a whole.
At the level of technological reflection, which serves quality variety scientific consciousness, which is formed to solve a specific political problem and represents science as a special "art", "craft", "mastery". This level significantly affects the methods of formation and development of this kind of knowledge, the ways of their organization and forms of implementation.

Today, despite the rapid development of scientific political science knowledge, the content of the category "politics" is still open, undergoing changes and additions as new theoretical models emerge. It demonstrates the futility of unambiguous definitions of the phenomenon of politics, the desire to catch its ever-elusive specifics within the boundaries of a once found logic. The term "politics" is almost always used in more than one sense.

The origin of the term "politics" is interpreted by different authors in different ways.

Some researchers argue that the name of the politician comes from the Greek "polis" and its derivatives "politeia" (constitution), "polites" (citizen) and "politicos" (statesman).

Others believe that this concept comes from "politike", which meant the science and art of managing public affairs. Still others believe that the very word politics comes from "politeia", which denoted the legislative design of the social and state structure. Still others are convinced that the concept of "politics" comes from the Greek words "poli" (many) and "tikos" (interests).

The word "politics" became widespread after the treatise of the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle on the state and the art of government, which was called "Politics", became known.

In ancient Greece, the word "politics" meant everything related to state activity. So, in particular, Plato and Aristotle considered government to be politics. Aristotle considered correct those forms of government (monarchy, aristocracy, polity), in which the goal of politics is the common good. Plato defined politics as the art of living together, that is, the art of coexistence. This approach is called communication.

Using a directive approach, a classic of political science, an Italian thinker Nicollo Machiavelli believed that there is nothing more than "the totality of the means that are necessary in order to come to power, stay in power and use it usefully."

A German sociologist M. Weber emphasized that politics “means the desire to participate in power or to influence the distribution of power, whether it be between states, whether it be within a state between the groups of people that it includes ... Whoever engages in politics strives for power.”

Based on the functional approach, T. Parsons wrote:

"Politics is a set of ways of organizing certain elements of the total system in accordance with one of its fundamental functions, namely: effective action for the achievement of common goals."

And D. Easton understood politics as an authoritative distribution of values within society.

On the basis of the institutional approach, V. Lenin believed that politics is "the area of relations between the classes of society, their relationship to the state as an instrument of the ruling class, a concentrated expression of the economy."

If we turn to the interpretation of the concept of "politics" in scientific dictionaries, we see that in the Popular Political Dictionary, published in Moscow in 1924, politics is seen as the art of governing the state and as a certain direction of actions of the state, parties, institutions.

S. Ozhegov in the Dictionary of the Russian Language defines politics as the activity of public authorities and public administration, reflecting the social system and economic structure of the country.

The Soviet Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary considers politics as an activity connected with relations between classes, nations and other social groups, the core of which is the problem of gaining, retaining and using state power.

The presented interpretations of politics do not exhaust the diversity of its definition, but together they allow us to reveal the essence of politics as a social phenomenon as follows: “Politics is a field of activity associated with relations between classes, nations, other social groups, with the goal of conquest, organization and use of state power management of social processes”.

Policy can classify for various reasons:

By spheres public life : economic; social; national; scientific and technical; ecological; cultural; military, etc.
By object of influence: internal and external.
By subject of policy: party politics; policy of public associations and movements; public policy, etc.
By activity priority(objectives): policy of neutrality; the policy of national reconciliation; open door policy; the politics of the "great leap"; policy of compromises, etc.

Thus, politics is: participation in the affairs of the state, determining the forms, tasks, content of its activities; activities in the sphere of relations between classes, nations, parties and states; a set of events or issues of state, public life; characterization of the course of action aimed at achieving certain goals in the relationship of people among themselves. In a broad sense, politics is identified with the entire social reality. In a narrow sense, politics refers to the relationship between large social groups of people regarding the realization of their political interests.

From a functional point of view, the role of politics in any society (from a small group to society as a whole) can be reduced to the following:

Expression of powerfully significant interests of all groups and strata of society. Politics gives people the opportunity to meet their needs and change social status.
Socialization of the individual, the formation of a person as an independent, socially active individual. Through politics, a person is able to acquire social qualities, it includes a person in the complex world of social relations, constructs an individual as an independent socially active being, a subject of politics.
Rationalization of emerging contradictions, ensuring a civilizational dialogue between citizens and the state. In the course of meeting the needs and interests of individuals, contradictions are exposed, conflicts arise. The role of politics is to smooth out contradictions.
Management and leadership of political and social processes. Political processes taking place in the interests of certain segments of the population or society as a whole involve the use of means of coercion and social violence.
Integration of various social strata of the population, maintaining the integrity of the social system, stability and order.
Ensuring the continuity of the social development of society as a whole and of each person individually. In this case, the political course chosen by society must foresee not only the long-term consequences of the actions taken, but also be constantly tested by practical experience, common sense, and moral standards.
Ensuring the innovative nature of the social development of society and man, expanding the scope of relations between peoples, man and nature.
Organizational.
Control and distribution.

It is clear that in this case we are talking only about the most important functions of politics. By the degree of development of these functions, one can judge the degree of development of the society itself, its maturity and the development of political life.

In the structure of policy, content, form and process (relationships) are distinguished. The content of the policy is expressed in its goals, values, motives and mechanisms for making political decisions, in the problems that it solves. The form of politics is its organizational structure (state, parties, etc.), as well as norms, laws that give it stability, stability and allow regulating the political behavior of people. The political process reflects a complex, multi-subjective and conflict nature political activity, manifestation and implementation of the relations of various social groups, organizations and individuals. Based on this, considering politics as a social phenomenon, we can distinguish the following structural elements:

political interest is an internal, conscious source of political behavior;
political relations - the relationship of social groups among themselves and the institutions of power;
political consciousness - the dependence of political life on the conscious attitude of people to their power-significant interests;
political organization - a set of institutions of political power;
political activity - social activity of subjects in the realization of their political statuses.

Politics has its subjects and objects.

Subject- it is the carrier of any subject-practical activity, the source of activity directed at the object.
An object- this is what opposes the subject in his subject-practical activity, in cognition. In other words, the subject acts, influences the object, seeks to use it in his own interests.

In relation to politics, we can say that the subject of politics is the one who leads an active political life, participates in the political process: an individual, a social group, public and religious associations, the state or its bodies, international organizations, etc.

The object of politics is what the efforts of the subject of politics are aimed at: power, interests and values, the population as an electorate, the state, an individual, etc.

Policy can be implemented at several levels:

mega level - international and world politics;
the macro level - the highest central political institutions, government bodies, public organizations and associations;
meso-level - governing bodies of the regional, republican, regional, district scale;
micro level - direct political interaction of people, small social groups.

Thus, politics has a comprehensive social character and is relevant to almost every member of society. Political science, as a science, studies politics in all its manifestations, and the study of political science contributes to the formation of a socially active personality.

The entire history of mankind can be divided into pre-political and political periods. For several tens of thousands of years, society in its organization did without politics. K. Marx associated the pre-political organization of society with the absence of classes. In a pre-class society there was no private property, people lived in small ethnic formations connected by consanguineous ties - family, clan, tribal. In the twentieth century, the studies of such scientists as K. Levi-Strauss, L. Levy-Bruhl expanded their understanding of the pre-political period of history. In this society, people lived according to rigid traditions, which formed the basis of the organization. Their organization was based on cultural technologies, in which life situations. Since these situations were related to nature and few communities, they were quite simple. In this society, there were no people in our usual sense. People were carriers of functions, had names that were given to them when they "come of age" - inclusion in the community of "adults" as a result of the rite of passage. These people did not think independently, they did not have individual will and the right to choose. They were literally "cogs" of the social machine - an organization that programmed them with social rituals, taboos, supplied them with mythological dogmas, formed a pre-scientific, pre-logical consciousness in which everything was explained and everything was dictated for each person - the performer of a social role. Such a public organization was characterized by indivisibility, fusion (syncretism) social institutions. They were not yet needed in society and were contained in the bud. The transition to political organization represents a significant leap in the change of social form. The advent of politics contributed to the development of human culture. An appropriate structure is created in society, which makes a person more free, aware of himself and his being, and also more organized. So, politics is an activity in the sphere of relations between large social groups (classes, nations, states) regarding the establishment and functioning of political power in the interests of realizing their socially significant requests and needs. The understanding of politics as a sphere of interaction between various social groups and communities of people is called communication. Aristotle stood at the origins of it. According to him, politics is a civilized form of community that served the achievement of the "common good" and "happy life". At that time, politics meant the whole social life. A variety of scientific definitions of policy can be systematized and subdivided into several groups, each of which is internally differentiated.

Sociological. It characterizes politics through other social phenomena: economics, law, morality, culture, religion.

-- economic. Politics is a superstructure over the economic basis, a concentrated expression of the economy.
-- ethical. Politics is a superstructure over the economic basis, a concentrated expression of the economy.
- stratification. Politics is the rivalry of certain social groups: classes or nations (Marxism) or interest groups (A. Bentley, D. Truman), providing a balance, a balance of public interests in a modern democratic state.
-- legal. Politics is a specialized activity to protect the fundamental rights inherent in every person from birth: to life, freedom, security, property (theories of the "Social Contract" of Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant).

Substantial. Reveals the fundamental principle, the "fabric" of which politics consists.

- domineering. Politics is actions aimed at power, its acquisition, distribution, retention and use (M. Weber).
-- institutional. Politics is the activity of the state, as well as parties and other associations and associations.
- Anthropological. Politics is a form of communication between people, a way of collective human existence (Aristotle).
- conflict-consensus. Politics is the activity of peaceful and violent conflict resolution (M. Duverger, S.F. Huntington).
- "Friends-enemies" relationship. Politics is any social activity in which people interact as friends and enemies.

Procedural - reveals the dynamic, procedural nature of politics.

- activity. Politics is the process of preparation, adoption and practical implementation of decisions binding on the whole society.
- teleological. Politics is an activity for the effective achievement of collective goals.
-- systemic. Politics is a relatively independent system, a complex social organism, an integrity delimited from environment(other areas of society) and being in continuous interaction with it.

Naturalistic interprets politics as a combination of natural factors.

-- geographic. Interprets politics as a combination of natural factors.
-- biological. Politics is a tool for managing human animal instincts.
-- psychological. Politics is the activity of people, determined by their desire for power and wealth.

Theological - politics as a manifestation of the divine will.

The above interpretations of politics do not exhaust the whole variety of its definitions, although they reflect the most important of them. The abundance of scientific characteristics is explained, first of all, by the complexity of politics, the richness of its content, the variety of properties and social functions.

Summarizing various definitions, it is possible to define politics as the activity of social groups and individuals in the articulation (awareness and representation) of their conflicting collective interests, the development of decisions binding on the whole society, carried out with the help of state power.

(gr. πόλις ) were historically formed as urban communities with self-government, which constituted themselves as a political formation, a community - this form of self-organization of society was typical of Ancient Greece. It developed and spread through Italy and directly through the Roman Empire. With the growth of states and empires, the policy of relations with vast territories required the variability of politics and the improvement of the management system. Politics, as a management methodology, was formed in policies where the administrative elite and various classes (crafts, arts, schools) were concentrated, in which the future elite was formed.

The term itself was introduced in the 4th century BC. e . Aristotle, who proposed the following definition for it: politics is the art of managing a state (polis). However, politics stood out as a separate area of social life long before this event - although later than, for example, economic relations or morality. There are several different views on the nature and origin of politics:

Theological. According to this view, politics, like life in general, has a divine origin.
Anthropological. This approach links politics with human nature: it is assumed that the appropriate type of communication and interaction with other people is dictated by the essence of man (and, on the other hand, it itself affects this essence, causing a number of self-limitations and other characteristic features that distinguish a person from an animal).
biological. Such an interpretation, on the contrary, implies that the nature of politics should be understood on the basis of principles common to man and animal - such, for example, as aggressiveness, the instinct of self-preservation, the struggle for survival, etc. The ethologist K. Lorenz, in particular, linked with the phenomenon of aggressiveness of war, revolution and other conflicts that take place in the life of society.
Psychological. According to this view, the primary source of political interaction between people are needs, interests, emotions and other manifestations of the human psyche. In the traditional way for himself, politics was interpreted, for example, by Z. Freud, who associated the nature of politics with the unconscious.
Social. The corresponding approach assumes that politics is a product of society and was formed in the course of the evolution of the latter - as its complexity grew and social stratification developed. As a starting point for these social changes, the Neolithic revolution can be considered, which influenced both the forms of management and the way of life of people in general. In this case, the policy appearance logic looks something like this:
1. The growth of the productivity of human activity causes the emergence of private property. The latter, in turn, contributes to the development of the economy, its specialization, as well as the formation of new social associations, deepens the autonomy and independence of the individual, providing it with the opportunity to achieve a certain position in society by economic means, and also enhances the stratification of society along property lines, giving rise to conflicts.
2. Social differentiation, including along ethnic and religious lines, is becoming more pronounced.
3. Demographic growth and the expansion of economic activity actualize the problem of the independence of one or another community from others, as well as the task of maintaining the integrity of the territories under the control of the specified community.

Accordingly, politics arises in connection with the loss of the opportunity to resolve the above problems and conflict situations. traditional methods- through customs, moral attitudes, etc. Along with law, politics acts as one of the new regulators designed to solve these problems; in addition, with the same purpose, the state is formed as new form structuring and organizing people's lives. Because of this, the concept of politics is directly associated with the concepts of state and power. In the concept of the political scientist M. Duverger, three forms of power are distinguished - anonymous, individualized and institutionalized; the first two are defined as pre-state, and the third - as the state itself, having a public character and causing the emergence of politics.

The Essence of Politics

In the course of the development of scientific and philosophical thought, various definitions of politics were proposed: the general “royal art”, which consists in owning a set of specific ones (oratory, military, judicial, etc.), the ability to “protect all citizens and, if possible, make them the best out of the worst” (Plato), knowledge of correct and wise government (Machiavelli), leadership of the state apparatus or influence on this leadership (Max Weber), struggle of class interests (Karl Marx). At present, it is common to interpret politics as an activity that is expressed in the behavior of social groups, as well as a set of behaviors and that govern social relations and create power control as such, coupled with competition for the possession of the power of power. There is also an idea that in the most general form, politics can be defined as a social activity aimed at maintaining or changing the existing order of distribution of power and property in a state-organized society (domestic politics) and the world community (foreign politics, global or world politics) .

Politics is a multifaceted social phenomenon that can be seen as a tool for the conscious self-regulation of society. There are a number of definitions of politics, offered by various theoretical directions, which emphasize one of the main aspects of political activity: institutional, legal, economic, psychological, social, anthropological, etc.

Main approaches

In a historical retrospective, the basic trends in determining the essence of politics, as well as in the field of its genesis, can be generalized within the framework of a combination of various theoretical approaches. These may include the following:

Substantial. The definitions of politics are linked directly to the concept of power, defining politics either as management with the help of power, or as the desire to acquire and maintain it. This direction is associated with the understanding of politics presented in the works of N. Machiavelli, M. Weber and K. Marx.
Institutional. Definitions in which attention is focused on a particular organization or some community of people that performs power functions. As a rule, the state is designated as a key institution (V. Lenin, in particular, held such views), but there are other variations that focus on other public institutions.
Sociological. Within the framework of this approach, society is considered as a set of structurally organized groups that realize their needs and interests through power, and politics, respectively, as certain forms of activity of such social groups to fulfill the needs mentioned above.
Teleological. Such an understanding of the essence of politics is associated with the concepts of organization, goal setting and goal achievement, due to which the scope of the term "policy" is significantly expanded.

In addition, in modern political science there are two opposite approaches to understanding politics: consensual and confrontational. The first approach assumes the resolution of problems by non-violent and non-conflict methods, through cooperation and the search for compromises, and politics in it is understood as an activity to achieve agreement between citizens, while within the framework of the second approach, politics is considered a sphere of conflict of interests, an area of confrontation, involving the dominance of stronger subjects. or organizations over weaker ones. However, it should be noted that one should not exaggerate the significance and importance of any of these approaches: politics is the product of a struggle between two oppositely directed tendencies (conflicts of interest on the one hand and the search for balance on the other), which actually equalizes the consensus and confrontational approaches.

Alternative definitions

Politics - the struggle of many interests (the art of management, taking into account the interests of all sectors of society). The definition is connected with the etymology of the Greek. πολιτικός, where πολι (poly) means a bunch of, and τικός (thikos) - interest; (literally - "many interests") [ ] . So, civil servants in the cities of ancient Greece were called politicos, and citizens who had little interest in and participated in the political life of their city were called ιδιοτικός ( idiotikos) ;
Politics is the art of the permissible. History points to the manipulation and aggressiveness of the policies of many rulers. Politics is management, a tool, and it must be distinguished from the goals and falsification (imitation character) of politics;
Politics is an all-encompassing phenomenon of social life, penetrating all its forms and including all forms of social activity of people, all types of activities for their organization and leadership within the framework of production processes;
Politics is the management of the allocation of resources;
Politics is a sphere of social life associated with obtaining, retaining and using power;
Politics is the desire to participate in power or to influence the distribution of power, whether between states, whether within a state between the groups of people that it contains;
Politics is participation in the affairs of the state, the direction of the state, the definition of forms, tasks, content of the state's activities;
Politics is the activity of an organization (its behavioral model), including the activities of the state to achieve its goals (interests), for example: - technical policy;
Politics is any program of action, all types of activities for the independent management of something or someone. Accordingly, in this sense, we can talk, for example, about the currency policy of the bank, about the school policy of city municipalities, about the family policy of the wife in relation to her husband and children, etc.;
Policy - a set of measures and actions aimed at achieving a predetermined result;
Politics is a form of public consciousness that expresses the corporate interests of the community and manifests itself in civil society (the state) in the form of trends, movements, trade unions and others. public organizations and special interest groups. The most perfect and organized of them are the parties and the church;
Politics is the art of bringing people together;
Politics is a struggle for the right to set your own rules of the game;
Politics - the art of evil in the name of good (philosophical and ethical definition in a broad sense);
Politics is the enforced decree of a third party;
Politics is someone's executable strategy to offer rights and freedoms. (Policy such and such may offer rights different from those offered by another policy);
Politics - measures and actions taken by a leader in order to implement the idea of \u200b\u200bhow things should be arranged in an environment subject to him. For example, the policy of the company "A" may change some functions in the equipment produced by it, in order to increase profits.

Policy Features

In accordance with its purpose, the policy performs a number of fundamental functions:

Implementation of the interests of social groups that are significant from the point of view of power.
Regulation and streamlining of the processes and relations that exist in society, as well as the conditions in which labor and production are carried out.
Ensuring both the continuity of the development of society and the adoption of new models of its evolution (that is, innovation).
Rationalization of relations between people and mitigation of contradictions in society, the search for reasonable solutions to emerging problems.

Policy structure

In politics, subjects or actors are distinguished - free and independent participants in the political process (for example, certain communities of people, institutions, organizations, etc.), as well as objects - social phenomena with which subjects interact purposefully in one way or another. As a result of such interaction, political relations arise, which, in turn, are determined by the political interests of the subjects. All of the listed structural elements are influenced by political consciousness (a set of values, ideals, emotions, etc.) and political culture. The summation of these components forms the phenomena of a higher level of abstraction: the political system, political regime and political processes.

Policies

The classification of policy types is carried out on several grounds:

According to the target area of society: economic, social, scientific and technical, military, etc.
By direction or scale: internal and external.
By content and character: progressive, reactionary, scientifically based and voluntaristic.
By subjects: politics of the world community, states, organizations, etc.

Political processes and society

The acceleration or, on the contrary, the delay in the development of society.

Political processes are based on a set of ideas and methods for their implementation. The policy is of a pronounced temporary nature, that is, it can change due to the change of leaders (managers).

A political party is an organization of like-minded people with a common vision of the process and ideology of governance. Political ideology is based on the description of the concept of phenomena and mechanisms, processes and management structure. The politicization of governance often demonstrates the opposition of ideologies and manipulations in favor of the goals of shadow rule and lobbying for the interests of third parties outside of governance itself. Political parties may view the implementation of public administration in different ways. Therefore, the policy of states is determined by the balance and/or opposition of various ideologies.

Depending on the type (profile, level) of organizations, there are distinguished: state policy (in particular, monetary policy), military policy, party policy, technical policy (for production organizations) etc.

Depending on the direction of activity of the organization, there are: internal and external policy, social policy etc.

As noted international organization Oxfam, “In many countries, wealth inequality leads to imbalances in the political representation of certain groups in society. Political and economic rules and decisions favor the rich at the expense of everyone else.”

Political systems and ideologies

To date, 20 political and ideological systems are known:

Politics is an extremely complex area of human relations. One of its most important tasks is the management of society, taking into account the interests of various social actors. These interests are often mutually exclusive.

The category "politics" became widespread thanks to the work of the same name by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. He considered politics as a form of communication between families and clans for the sake of a happy, good life. Nowadays, this term often refers to various types of influence and leadership. So, they talk about the policy of the president, the party, the firm, the editorial board, educational institution, teacher, leader and members of any group.

Politics- is defined as a field of activity related to the distribution and exercise of power within the state and between states in order to achieve the security of society.

In the very broad sense politics is interpreted only as the activity of organizing the joint life of people in society , as a necessary and useful management in this regard. And political relations - as a system of relations between people that arise and develop precisely because of the organization and functioning of state power.

The existence and status of a policy depends on a number of factors. These enduring necessary factors, or connections, are policy laws. Such connections include the following:

the dependence of the subject's policy on interest in another subject. Politics is built by those who experience a lack of security: in benefits, including in life and health, in social status, communication, etc.; whoever has large resources dictates the conditions of political (collective) existence; that is, the one who is less interested dictates;
the dependence of the stability of political relations on the readiness of subjects to sacrifice some private (personal) interests;
the dependence of the joint security of the community on the fairness of the distribution of social positions of the subjects of politics.

Security contains three main elements. Social security implies the preservation of the existence of the subject in a certain status. Economic security means having access to livelihoods. Spiritual security implies the possibility of free choice of ideas, faith, tastes, etc., which do not infringe on the interests of other people.

Politics as a social phenomenon

traditional when politics is determined through the state and the participation of the people in the exercise or opposition of power;
sociological, within which politics is interpreted in the broadest sense, as any type of social activity associated with the independent leadership of people, the distribution of benefits and resources, conflict resolution, etc.

In the traditional approach politics appears as a special, different from other state-imperious sphere of public life and is realized in it. Hence such specific definitions of politics, interpreting it as:

the scope of the struggle for power and the method of exercising this power;
the science and art of public administration;
method of producing lawful social orders and prescriptions and etc.

In a sociological approach politics as a public activity is not necessarily connected with state power, and, consequently, does not form a special sphere of public life. It is present everywhere, and any phenomenon or action becomes political insofar as it "affects the organization and mobilization of resources, necessary for the implementation of the goals of a particular team, community, etc.” Therefore, they often say: “Wherever you throw it, politics is everywhere.” She is present even in the family, when a smart wife controls her husband in such a way that it seems to the latter that he is the master in the house, although in fact he is “under the heel” of his wife.

Interpretation of the concept of "politics":

The course on the basis of which decisions are made, measures for the implementation and formation of tasks.
The art of managing people, all kinds of activities for self-management.
The sphere of struggle for the conquest, retention and use of state power.
The art of government.

Society's need for politics. The Need for Politics

As its fundamental social foundation, politics has an objective society's need for self-regulation, for maintaining cohesion and unity.

by its structure asymmetrically. The existence of different classes and (professional, demographic, ethnic, etc.) having different or even directly opposite interests, aspirations, ideologies inevitably leads to their clash and struggle with each other. And so that this struggle, natural at all times and among all peoples, does not take the form of a war of “all against all”, requires a special organization of force which would assume the function of preventing it and would provide the necessary minimum of social regulation and order. It is precisely this function of the self-preservation of society that is performed by politics, and, above all, in the person of such its supreme subject as the state. It is no coincidence that politics is often defined as "the art of living together, the art of unity in the multitude".

The role of politics in society:

clarification of the meaning of the existence of this community and the system of its priorities;
coordination and balance of interests of all its members, determination of common collective aspirations and goals;
development of rules of behavior and life activity acceptable to all;
the distribution of functions and roles among all subjects of a given community, or at least the development of the rules by which this distribution takes place;
creation of a generally accepted (generally understandable) language for all - verbal (verbal) or symbolic, capable of ensuring effective interaction and mutual understanding of all community members.

On a vertical cut, as shown in the diagram, policy actors(i.e. those who "send" politics and participate in political-power relations) are:

Policy field

"Field of politics", i.e. the space to which it extends two types of measurement: territorial and functional. The first is delineated by the country's borders, the second by the scope of political decisions. At the same time, the "field of politics" includes almost all areas of social life: economics, ideology, culture, etc. Politics interacts with them according to the principle feedback, i.e. proceeds from the mutual influence of politics and the social environment.

Character relationship between politics and economics directly depends on the type of state system. If in totalitarian systems the economy acts as a concentrated expression of politics, i.e. it is controlled by it and completely subordinated to it to the detriment of economic expediency, then in modern Western countries these two "hypostases" act as complementary and complementary social systems. And the problem of the interaction between economics and politics is not a choice between two opposites: the monopolism (element) of the state and the monopolism (element) of the market. It's about about the search for optimal models, finding reasonable proportions between the one and the other, i.e. between state regulation and freedom of private enterprise, self-regulation of the market. So-called economic anti-statism, i.e. the complete expulsion of the state from the economy, nothing more than a social utopia.

The "business" function of politics in relation to the economy is nothing but production and maintenance in society of a certain minimum of social stability and order, under which only effective economic activity is possible, including in the form of a private one. In conditions of chaos and anarchy, such activity, as a general rule, is impossible. Chaos cannot be reformed. As for the general social "business" function of the economy, including business, in relation to society and the state, it can be expressed in an extremely concise target setting: "to feed and clothe the people." But the people are not as a “dependent” and an object of social charity, but the people as an aggregate employee and an active subject of economic activity, which simultaneously accumulates in its person both the main producer and the consumer of material and intangible goods.

Particular attention should also be paid to the fact that politics is inextricably linked with ideology and outside of ideology and without ideology cannot exist. Ideology, as a system of values of a given society that has a mobilization potential, performs two kinds of functions in relation to politics: on the one hand, orientation function; on the other hand, the function of its ideological legitimation, i.e. justifications for action.

First function is especially important at sharp turns in history, when the political system changes and the traditional structures and ideas are radically broken. Second- as a means of legitimizing state-power decisions, i.e. as a justification and justification for those that are unpopular among the people, are, as they say, "shock therapeutic" in nature on the principle of "there is simply no other way."

Specially folded relationship between politics and science. Politics, due to its diversity, subjectivity, dynamism and other features, is not equivalent to science, i.e. it is not reduced to the exact implementation of the solutions developed by science, the laws discovered by it. Science does not "rule" politics, but acts as its impartial, "beyond good and evil" adviser. Regarding politics main function of science purely pragmatic is, first of all, its information support, expertise, forecasting and modeling of situations, etc.

A serious study of politics also involves highlighting such a key issue as relationship between politics and morality.

At the level of mass ideas about politics, the most common point of view on this matter is the statement about their incompatibility: where politics begins, morality ends. If we turn to history and today's days, then such a point of view has the right to exist, but, nevertheless, it cannot be recognized as completely correct and scientific. There is no universal predetermined policy for immorality. Everything depends on the nature of the social structure in which the policy is implemented, as well as on the “cleanliness of the hands” of those who are at its helm. Where there is democracy, where any actions in the sphere of politics are controlled by its mechanisms, by the people, there morality and politics get along well with each other. But the compatibility of morality and politics is not in the strict observance of moral norms by politics, but in a reasonable, moral combination of good and evil. Politics is still a specific sphere of forced, sometimes even very “cool” decisions, when the imperatives of morality have to be coordinated with the rationality and expediency of actions, and own desires and addictions with the dictates of circumstances. A politician acts morally when the good from his actions significantly exceeds the evil. The French educator Voltaire in this regard said: "Often, in order to do great good, you have to do a little evil."

01.02.2017

Purpose of the study- identify all possible variations to the definition of politics, understand the essence of political knowledge, give the starting concept: politics, as well as the science that studies it - political science.

Why do we need to start our learning process with the concept of politics? Political science is the science of politics, which means we need to find out what the concept of politics is!?

In my opinion, the central, starting statement:

- Undoubtedly: politics is a social phenomenon, where there is a society, a political component of society appears. Aristotle defines a person as "political animal", in human nature lies the desire to communicate with fellow tribesmen, the desire to unite in order to achieve common benefits - family, city, state. An individual in a non-society does not participate in political life.

An unconditional feature of politics - politics is a social phenomenon!

The concept of "politics", different approaches:

Household level, politics- any activity of a person, organization aimed at achieving a goal.

Scientific approach- relies on argumentation and systematization, there are several types of research approaches to the definition of the concept of "politics":

sociological;
substantial;
scientifically constructed, associated with a specific interpretation of politics.

Sociological approaches (variants of the interpretation of the concept of "politics"):

Economic approach (especially, "Marxism")- the idea of economic determinism, according to which politics is subordinated to the economic component of social relations. All subjects of politics do not have their own free will in actions, their actions are dictated by the processes of economic development of society. Public - political development 20th century showed the inconsistency of this theory, economy, only an important factor , one of the hypostases of the social life of a society affecting political reality. An example, Hitler, was not an instrument for the economic development of society, the economy was only a powerful and partial factor that brought utopian ideology to power. The economy, in this case, has become a "fertile field", which "nurtured" Mussolini, Hitler, Mosley and other representatives of the destructive direction in the development of political thought of the 20th century.

Stratification approach(sociological category - a system of criteria dividing society groups (strata, classes, etc.)) - the main idea of the stratification approach consists in the rivalry of certain groups (classes (“Marxism”), interested groups (A. Bentley, D. Truman)). Of course, after the “failure” of communist state projects almost all over the world. At the same time, the theory of “interested groups” at the moment has become one of the leading ones and has become part of the understanding of the modern democratic pluralistic state.

Legal approach- politics, as a derivative of "natural" human rights. According to the concept, at birth, we are all equal in our natural rights - the right to life and so on. State and politics are the result of a "social contract" aimed at protecting the "natural rights" of a person. The theory of "social contract" whose representatives are prominent figures of world philosophical thought - Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant. States are a tool for protecting the rights of citizens, citizens give power to the state, in order to more effectively ensure the protection of "natural rights", a kind of contract between each citizen and the state.

Ethical (normative) approach — politics as an activity aimed at achieving the common good . This approach reflects the idea of policy orientation towards achieving the “common” good. However, as history shows, the public good can be interpreted in different ways, under the "guise" of the public good, an irrational, destructive motive can be "hidden" (the destruction of the enemies of the people, the destruction of the "Jewish" population and other options "public good"). Although of course. a generally humane approach, this is an excellent idealistic goal of the state system, which, against the backdrop of selfish actions of political subjects, is difficult to achieve.

Substantial approaches (variants of the interpretation of the concept of "politics"):

"Imperious" definition of politics — a set of actions aimed at power for the purpose of its acquisition, use and retention. It can be said that Niccolo Machiavelli, in his definition of politics, was inclined to identify it with the modern "powerful" approaches to the definition of the concept of politics (N. Machiavelli, says that politics is "the totality of means that are necessary in order to come to power, stay in power and use it usefully").

Institutional definition of policy- Proponents of this approach believe that politics is participation in the affairs of the "institutions" of power , - states, parties and other things.

Anthropological definition of politics- even Aristotle, pointed out that a person in his essence is a “political animal” by nature, existing in order to communicate within social structures: family, community, city, state. Those. anthropological factor of politics, the fundamental principle - politics is a way of a civilized existence of a person in society, anticipated by the very human essence (the need for interaction in the social structure) based on legal norms.

Conflict-consensus policy definition- this is a theory associated with the ideas of antagonism of the political process, the struggle of opposites, but at the same time the single essence of the political process. On the one hand, politics is a conflict of interests, the struggle for gaining benefits, on the other hand, politics is a process aimed at achieving justice, order and providing opportunities for the implementation of all participants in the political process. So, politics according to the theory of conflict and consensus is a process aimed at reaching consensus (an agreement between the parties to the conflict that resolves the conflict situation) in a conflict situation.

The theory of "friends" and "enemies"- a theory developed by the German political scientist K. Schmitt. The idea of K. Schmitt is that our life is filled with various types social relations - religious, economic, cultural, etc., in the process of human participation in such types of relations, a conflict of interests arises, a "condensation" is formed, from which the division of participants in the social process into fragments "friend", "enemy" begins to "grow". And at the moment of fragmentation: friend-foe, a policy appears that serves to protect the interests of "friends" from "enemies".

Scientifically constructed, related to the specific interpretation of policies:

Activity definition of the concept of politics — politics is a process preparation, adoption and practical implementation of decisions binding on the whole society. Through the “prism” of the activity definition, politics appears as a process consisting of stages: the emergence of political goals, the preparation of means for the implementation of the goal, the organization of the process of realizing the means, the achievement of the goal, the fixation of the achieved goals, the preparation of new goals, etc.

Teleological definition of the concept of politics- in this case, the policy acts as an activity (close to activity concept) aimed at achieving collective goals . Representatives of this concept (in particular, T. Parsons) believe that politics is endowed with a "fundamental function" - the function of effective, collective achievement of common goals. Theological concept is based on two postulates, First of all, man has a collective nature (the leading idea of Aristotle), Secondly, conscious and purposeful nature of the actions of the subjects of the political process. In such a situation, the will of the individual turns into the will of collective entities and the whole society.

Defining a politician, according to a systems approach- politics, it is a complexly organized system with relative independence, integrity and limitations from other social systems of society, at the same time being in constant interaction with other systems of society

Total:

POLICY is:

the result of the development of the economy, subordinated to the implementation of economic tasks;
the result of competition between certain groups, interest groups;
the result of a social contract between citizens and the state, aimed at protecting the natural rights of citizens;
the result of activities aimed at achieving the common good;
the totality of all actions aimed at power;
as a result of participation in the institutions of power, primarily the state;
the result of the natural predisposition of each individual to social organization with the aim of achieving common goods on the basis of legal norms;
the result of the process of seeking and finding consensus during social conflicts;
the result of the division of society into separate groups on the basis of "friends", "enemies" and the subsequent process of general protection of interests until the moment the interest is satisfied or not achieved, followed by the dissociation of the group;
this is the process of preparation, adoption and practical implementation of decisions common to all subjects;
the result of activities to achieve the set collective goal.
a complex system that has independence and at the same time actively interacts with other social systems of society.

Politics is the activity of social groups and individuals in the articulation (realization and representation) of their conflicting collective interests, the development of decisions binding on the whole society, carried out with the help of state power (Introduction to political science. Pugachev V.P., Solovyov A.I. 2005 -477c) .

Politics- the activities of individuals and social groups associated with relations regarding the conquest, retention and use of power in order to realize their interests (The latest political dictionary_Pogorely D.E. et al_2010 -318s).

Definitions of politics, historical aspect:

« Politics is a set of means necessary to come to power, stay in power and use it usefully.» — N. Machiavelli.

« Politics is the area of relations between the classes of society, the concentrated expression of the economy» — IN AND. Lenin.

« Politics is the desire to participate in power or to influence the distribution of power, whether between the state, whether within the state between the groups of people that it contains.» — M. Weber.

“Politics is the power distribution of values within society” —D. Easton.

To be continued…