Power, Politics, and the State: Theories and Concepts
The Power and Politics
Politics is a human activity. Through it, people are socially organized, creating and modifying community rules to seek common goals. Unlike ethics, politics must conform to laws and impose order. Policy, a human construct, should be supervised by ethics, as laws are not always fair, and power can be misused.
The Notion of Power
Power is an abstraction with a visible impact on those who experience its consequences. It often involves a dominant position in various settings: workplaces, social groups, families, etc. Power relations are part of everyday life.
Theories on the Origin of the State and Politics
Platonic Theory
For Plato, humans sign a citizenship contract, choosing to belong to a state and agreeing to respect its laws, even unjust ones. Being human and being a citizen are synonymous. Politics, for Plato, is the study of norms and principles for citizens, aiming for justice. The righteous deserve state dignities, achieved through education and virtue. Plato classified governments as aristocratic, democratic, and oligarchic, with deviations like timocracy, demagoguery, and tyranny. He criticized democracy and demagoguery, advocating for aristocratic government based on knowledge. The end of morality and politics is the good or virtue.
Aristotelian Theory
Aristotle believed society is a natural consequence of human sociability. Humans are “political animals,” living in society and addressing the common good. The state, a political organization, results from the association of individuals, families, and villages, aiming to satisfy citizens’ needs. The family is the core of the community, leading to villages and cities. Politics belongs exclusively to citizens who participate in public powers. Virtue, citizenship, and the common good are essential for happiness. Aristotle favored a moderate democracy (polity), a self-sufficient society. His theory of government forms focuses on achieving the common interest.
The Medieval Theory of the Common Good
This theory posits that people unite based on collective interest. Influential in medieval and post-medieval Roman philosophy, the common good is reflected in the Roman people’s property concept. The defense of common goods prevails over individual interests. For Thomas Aquinas, the common good benefits all community members, regulated by laws promulgated by political authority. Law and justice are intertwined, always directed towards the common good.
Modern Theories (Classical Contractarian Theory)
Hobbes: In the state of nature, humans are dominated by passions and violence, lacking laws and order. Through a covenant, power is ceded to a sovereign to maintain peace, resulting in an authoritarian state. Hobbes viewed humans as selfish and antisocial, with man being a wolf to man.
Locke: In the natural state, humans have natural rights: life, liberty, and private freedom. A social pact grants individuals rights, with a sovereign if these rights are not respected. The state is a liberal democracy with three powers: legislative (enacts laws), executive (enforces laws), and federative (sets agreements, declares war/peace).
Rousseau: Humans are free, equal, and good, but society corrupts them. A social pact involves individuals submitting to the general will, softening the consequences of a corrupt society. The result is a direct democracy, aiming for the common good.
Contemporary Theories: Theory of Justice
Rawls: Humans are free, able, and equal. In the original position, stronger individuals have an advantage. Political representatives are unaware of morally irrelevant characteristics of those they represent. The maximin rule guides decisions for the most beneficial outcome. Representative organizations set two principles of justice: equal freedom for all and equal opportunities, aiming to mitigate inequalities.
The Minimal State
Nozick: In the state of nature, individuals have autonomy within boundaries, preventing harm to others’ life, health, liberty, and property. Individuals form associations for mutual protection, leading to monopolistic agencies and an “ultraminimal” state without distributive justice. The minimal state defends property rights, avoids intervention in individual rights, and enforces those rights, preventing theft and fraud.
Etymology and Historical Development of Democracy
More states are governed by democracy, a political system where sovereignty resides in the people, exercised directly or indirectly. The term democracy, from the Greek demos (people) and cratein (rule), emerged in Athens in the fifth century BC, meaning rule by the people.