Essence and structure of the policy
Today, two main approaches to defining politics dominate social science.
The traditional approach. Politics is defined through the essence and content of the state’s activities, through the participation of people in the exercise or acquisition of state power. Politics as a science dates back to Aristotle, for whom politics is the study of the management of a city (polis), a state. The development of nation-states has strengthened this position in defining the essence of politics as a social phenomenon and science. Politics is the knowledge of everything that should relate to the art of governing a state and maintaining relations and connections with other states. The most widespread concept of political sociology in the West defines politics as the science of power, of governance, of authority, of command in all human communities and social groups, not just in national society (Max Weber, Maurice Duverger, Harold Lasswell, Robert Dahl, etc.). Politics creates a special sphere of social life, which is more accurately called the public sphere, and is realized in it. The influence of politics on the economy, culture and the influence of the economy on politics, etc. is seen as an interaction of different spheres of public life.
The second position. Politics is defined as a certain type of social activity, not necessarily associated with state power. A number of Western political scientists believe that politics is a way of clarifying and organizing social affairs, especially those related to the distribution of scarce resources, the principles by which resources are distributed, and the means by which people or social communities have and maintain control over the situation. Power and the state, within the second position of the view of politics, are not considered a priori as something different from the government and other social communities of people; if there are differences, then a comparison of the study of power in all social communities of people makes it possible to identify them. This means that politics is, first and foremost, a social activity aimed at social and material relations of people, which is reflected in various spheres and is constantly changing. When analyzing politics as a social phenomenon, it should be borne in mind that in a society with a complex social structure and in the presence of public authority – the state – it is difficult to find phenomena and processes that are absolutely free of political connotations, since most of them are related to the interests of certain social communities, strata, classes fighting for the conquest or retention of power. The degree of “politicization” is different.
From the point of view of the value approach, politics can be seen as:
- The high art of serving the ideals of goodness and justice.
- Politics as a means of achieving selfish goals.
- Value-neutral understanding of politics.