According to the idea of politics, politics is the science and practice, and the system of related principles and their application, by whi...
According to the idea of politics, politics is the science and practice, and the system of related principles and their application, by which rationality, peace, security and progress towards common or individual goals can be achieved for all members of a society.
The actual practice of politics is a kind of public activity of pursuing public goals which are defined by interests, and are aimed at the realization of those interests in society through the acquisition of social power.
The purpose of politics is defined as the acquisition and maintenance of power over society, i.e. the control of people to achieve the perceived or real interests of society.
Clearly, politics, interest, society and social power are inseparable. The right politics is directed towards the realization of the common interests of the society it represents, by exercising the social power it has acquired, through the control of the people that constitute society.
But what is in the interest of society? Who defines it and how? How can we assess whether the prevailing policy is acting in the interests of society?
In practice, politicians and political parties project their own interests as it is the common interests of society and use the social power they have acquired to achieve these interests. Everyday experience in the society shows that the vast majority of people and, with a few exceptions, the entire community of politicians (the politician is only human) are unable to place the collective interest before their own when interests collide. This statement is reinforced by the fact that the existence of selfishness as a personal attribute in political participation seems to be a feature of the current political structure, a necessary condition for political life, and a positive selection pressure.
In democratic systems, politicians and political parties justify the social validity of their own interests by the fact that they were elected by a societal majority, hence, according to the reasoning, the goals and interests of the majority of society must be in line with the goals and interests of the elected politicians and political parties. The tragedy of current democracy is that this correlation does not necessarily arise from a majority vote. Politicians take advantage of this loose connection and freely apply their political activities to the pursuit of their own interest, and can only be held accountable by society through elections.
In non-democratic systems, politicians do not even have to justify to society the motives for their actions, because society has no instrument of control. Even if there are elections in form, they are practically non-functional and manipulated. The real interest of the majority is not asserted, not even expressed, except at the most by the use of violence.
In what way can it be decided whether political parties and politicians use the power they have acquired for their own, individual, non-social purposes, or for the common good of society, for the benefit of the whole community? Is there an objective way of assessing the real results of the work of the politicians in power? What can prove, how can it be demonstrated, that the political interest being pursued by those in power is indeed the interest of society as a whole?
The political parties and politicians in power usually justify the validity of their activities by the product of society's labor, the objectively measurable performance of the economy. This objective result is not, however, an objective assessment of the work of the current government for the benefit of society as a whole. The economy can be doing well without society as a whole sharing the benefits produced, without the common purpose and interest of society being achieved. Politics tries to justify its rule by the increase in societal prosperity, the degree of social growth, the level of social happiness. These are in fact debatable results for society as a whole. This is true even if the actions of the politicians in power result in votes. Voting is an easily manipulated way of validating politics.
What can be a real, objective, measurable, assessable characteristic of the functioning of the existing politics that can clearly indicate the real societal benefits of the current policy?
Since the real purpose of politics is to achieve the common goals and interests of society, a credible measure of the performance of political work is the level of cooperation of society as a community. If politics truly serves the common interests and goals of society, social cohesion and cooperation will increase under the incumbent political power. If social cohesion is reduced under the current political leadership, if society is breaking up into groups, the current policy is not serving the common interests of society.
Social cohesion can be objectively analyzed, which means that political leadership can be objectively valued. If social cohesion increases under a political leadership, the political leadership is capable of governing society and is entitled to hold power. If social cohesion declines under a political leadership, regardless of its success in economic growth and increasing prosperity, the political leadership is unfit to govern society and is not entitled to hold power. No elections are needed to demonstrate this. In a society that is advanced in community life, the politicians in power constantly assess the level of social cohesion and adjust their actions, their leadership, and ultimately their leadership role, to the level of social cohesion.
It is important to note, as it is the fundamental point, that social cohesion as a policy outcome is not a measure of the level of social support of the current political policy (however, should not be total rejection either), but a measure of the level of support among the people and groups that constitute society. It is a well-measured characteristic of society, and one that cannot be manipulated by political populism in the interests of power.
Social cooperation is the real source of social power. Social power is created by the people, by society, and creates power for politics. The larger and the more cooperative the society as a community is, the more power it creates and provides for politics, and the politics can function more effectively. Power comes from society.
When the current policy sees power as a goal to be achieved, the part of society that does not agree with the policy's intentions, that part of society, becomes an obstacle to the policy's pursuit of power. Politics that sees power as a goal is incapable of achieving social cohesion, of running society optimally. A politics that sees power as a goal is unsuitable to run society.
The correct correlation of politics to power is that power is not the purpose of politics, but the result of the politics that is implemented. Under the right political leadership, societal cohesion increases and society becomes more capable of achieving greater performance, which gives more power to the leadership of society, to politics.
It follows that the classic divide and rule method of political manipulation is a tool of an inept political leadership that is weak in societal approval, that seeks to oppress society, that sees power as an objective. The divide and rule method seeks to ensure that politics remains in power by weakening the society at hand.
The purpose and the applied methods of power of a suitable political policy is to strengthen social cohesion in a real way, and not just to achieve the actual goals of the policy.
Humans have become the dominant species on Earth not because they are stronger, faster, smarter, cleverer, or more reproductive than other living beings, but because humans can use their existing abilities to create a flexible, cooperative global society, in which the skills of the individuals who constitute the society are combined. Politics is about managing and organizing society in such a way as to create a human society that is as global and cooperative as possible, which means as strong and effective as possible. This is the function of capable politics, this is the job of the politician, this is the work of a good politician.
Politics manages the social power of human society, and is therefore the most important function in human society. And it is also the most dangerous activity for humanity, because it uses the greatest power on Earth, the power of human society, to achieve its own objectives.
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