Is Politics In All Social Contexts And Institutions Or Only In Certain One (That Is, Government And Public Life)?

Is politics in all social contexts and institutions or only in certain one (that is, government and public life)?

 

Politics is such a multifaceted thing. Politics has a set of fairly specific meanings that are complexly descriptive, but does often carry a negative connotation. Hence, politics is exercised on a wide range of social contexts and institutions. Throughout the history, political theorists and practitioners have offered multiple, at times contradictory and overlapping definitions of what politics involves. It is therefore difficult to provide a single definition of politics that everyone can agree on. The best thing we can do is to explore some of the themes of politics of which could help us develop some sort of framework, and in some way of organizing these definitions.  

Themes of Politics:  

• Political Governance

This is the most obvious one when we talk about politics. It refers to the formulation and implementation of policies by the government. It is the interplay of the three branches of the government (Legislative, Executive and Judiciary) in which the legislative branch formulates policies, the executive branch implements policies, and the judicial branch adjudicates legal controversies.  

• Politics as an organization

As said, politics is not only focused on one institution alone. It includes many forms of political organization, such as states, non-government organizations (NGOs) and international organizations like the UN. These organizations aims to bring people together to achieve control of the government, develop policies favorable to interests, and persuade other people to elect better candidates of who they think is good for the nation.

• Politics as an academic discipline  

Political science, the study of politics, examines the acquisition and application of power (or sometime politicology). It deals all political processes involving human beings as political animals, state and government. Political Science also deals with the concepts of governance, power, influence, legitimacy, perception, attitude, values, public opinion, decision-making, and groups and their activities.

• Politics as a form of corruption

Another interesting social function of politics is Political corruption which means the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. However, political corruption isn't actually just about election rigging. It can lead politicians in office to steer away from good government and use this to benefit those who fund them—which the public interest comes second. This can divert scarce resources from poor and disadvantaged people which is sad.  

• Politics as a global pattern  

Global politics include different practices of political globalization from global patterns of governance to issues of globalizing conflict. Throughout history, we have witnessed the outcome of the two world wars, the rise and fall of communism. In resolving such concerns, the world has produced a pattern of governance that would settle globalizing conflicts. We have the United Nations serving as the bastion of peace with the aim of maintaining worldwide peace and security, and fostering cooperation between nations in order to solve economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian international problems.

One cannot avoid politics. We have to educate ourselves about the cruel world of politics for us to know what is going on around us. Political Science prepares us to think more clearly about oneself and about one's relationship with others, to be more careful in one's judgments of the unfamiliar and to be more careful in one's path.