What is the Real Goal of the Policy?

The Policy objectives Can be studied from different perspectives. This can be defined, in the broadest sense of the word, as the activity through which people create, preserve and modify the general laws on which their societies are based.

Above all, politics constitutes a social activity, since it involves dialogue. It foresees the existence of opposing opinions, different demands and needs, and above all of opposing interests with respect to the rules that govern society. However, it is also recognized that if you want to modify the rules or maintain them, teamwork is necessary.

In this sense, politics is intrinsically related to conflict (product of disagreements) and to cooperation (product of teamwork).

The delimitation of the term"politics"and its objectives presents two problems. First, over the years, the term"politics"has had negative connotations, and is constantly related to terms such as armed conflict, disruption, violence, lies, manipulation. Even the American historian Henry Adams defined politics as"the systematic organization of hatred."

Second, it appears that policy experts have not reached a consensus as to the concept and purpose of the policy.

Politics has been defined in many ways: the exercise of power, the science of governments, the practice of manipulation and deception, among others.

Approaches to policy objectives

There are two major approaches to studying politics: politics as a battlefield or arena and politics as a behavior

Politics as the art of governing

TO Otto von Bismarck , First chancellor of the second German Empire, is attributed the authorship of the phrase"Politics is not a science but an art".

Possibly, Bismarck saw politics as art whose aim is to exercise control in a society through collective decision-making.

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)

This conception of politics is one of the oldest and derives from the Greek term"polis", which means city - state. In ancient Greece, the term political was used to designate matters concerning the polis. That is, it is in charge of matters that concern the State.

However, this definition is very limited because it only involves the members of society who belong to the government, osease, those who hold a political position, leaving aside other citizens.

Politics as public affairs

The second definition of politics is broader than politics as the art of governing, since it takes into account all members of a society.

This conception of politics is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle , Who pointed out that"man is by nature a political animal." From this statement, it is derived that just by the simple fact of belonging to a society, already is being made politics.

For the Greeks the polis involved the sharing of problems. In this sense, politics is the search for the common good through the direct and continuous participation of all citizens.

Aristotle (348-322 BCE)

Politics as commitment and consensus

This conception of politics refers to the way in which decisions are made. Specifically, politics is seen as a way to resolve conflicts through compromise, reconciliation and negotiation, ruling out the use of force and power.

It should be noted that proponents of this perspective recognize that there are no utopian solutions and that concessions should be made that may not fully satisfy the parties involved. However, this is preferable to armed conflict.

One of the highest representatives of this concept is Bernard Crick, who in his study In defense of politics (1962) points out that politics is the activity that reconciles the interests of different individuals through the proportional division of power.

This approach to politics is ideological, because it places international morality (ethical norms that regulate the behavior of nations, as ethical principles do in individuals) rather than the interests of the state.

Politics as power

The last definition of politics is the broadest and most radical of all. According to Adrien Leftwich (2004),"... politics is the heart of all social activities, formal and informal, public and private, within all human groups, institutions and societies...". In this sense, politics is present on all levels at which human beings interact.

From this point of view, politics is the exercise of power to achieve a desired goal, regardless of the means. Harold Lasswell (1936) summarizes this conception in the title of his book"Politics: Who Gets What, When and How?".

Politics as power opposes politics as commitment and consensus, because it puts interests first in a group.

Purpose of policy according to approaches

Just as the definition of politics varies, so does the objective of policy. Politics seen as an arena has two objectives: to attend to matters that concern the state (politics as an art of governing) and to promote citizen participation in order to achieve the common good.

On the other hand, politics as a behavior has as general objective to determine the performance of the countries in the search of interests; However, the processes proposed by each approach are diverse.

Politics as a consensus aims at reaching the interests through negotiation; On the other hand, politics as power aims to reach interests regardless of the means.

References

1. What is Politic? Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from freewebs.com.
2. Lasswell, Harold (1936). Politics: Who Gets What, When, and How? Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from policysciences.org.
3. Power and Politics. Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from nptel.ac.in.
4. Aristotle (s.f.) Politics. Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca.
5. Introduction to Political Science. Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from londoninternational.ac.uk.
6. A Plain English Guide to Political Terms. Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from simpleput.ie.
7. The concept of power. Retrieved on March 18, 2017, from onlinelibrary.wiley.com.