Assess the view that government is concerned with the exercise of political power.

In this essay I will discuss whether the government is involved in exercising political power or not. Politics is when you have conflicting ideas on different issues, and the way in which people resolve these differences in an orderly way. Politics takes place on different levels. You see it in the local, national and international levels. It can also be seen in schools, within families etc. It is an activity, which is widespread in all societies. It relies on communication between all sides. If the communication stops or breaks down it can lead to conflict between the groups involved. So commonsense dictates that government takes part in politics, as it takes in all the conflicting ideas and then implements the best idea for the people it is representing.

Power is the ability to make people do as you say without their consensus. When you have power you are above the people on whom you exercise your power.

So political power is if and how the government exercise power in the political arena.

One of the places in which the government exercise’s their power is in the international arena. Getting what they want from the foreign countries. As with the current situation in Afghanistan.

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One of the places in which the government exercise’s their power is in the international arena. Getting what they want from the foreign countries. As with the current situation in Afghanistan.

Where Britain and the USA are currently staging military strikes on the Taliban regime. The two western governments are exercising their full political power through their military. They are showing the Taliban that if the laws laid by the UN and other international bodies of governments are broken, then sanctions will be put on them. Yet if you comply with them they will reward you. This can be seen with the lifting of sanctions of Pakistan for helping America. Both leaders have been given the power to attack Afghanistan without the permission of anyone else. The citizens through voting give this power to them. If they feel their countries security is breached or a certain country breaks an international law, they have been given permission by their citizens to impose appropriate sanctions on that country. So by staging military strikes on Afghanistan they are exercising political power on the Taliban for not complying with America and Britain.

Von Bismarck says 1.“Politics is not a science … but an art”. He was talking about the art of government. The making and enforcing of collective decisions. In other words making decisions and then using their powers to enforce these decisions. So Bismarck believed that government was involved in the exercising of political power.

This can be seen in the UK government’s domestic policy. Like the decision to close the countryside of to tourists due to the foot and mouth crisis. The decision to cull animals also shows the government exercising its political power. It used vets and the army to organise the mass killing of livestock. Whether the farmers agreed with the culling or not, their animals got killed if it was in an infected area. This shows that the government first took the decision in Westminster and used the right people to exercise this decision, whether people gave their consent or not. In other words they were exercising political power.

An obvious area in which the government exercise its power is in law making. The government make the decisions and use the courts and police to enforce these laws. Like the law banning cannabis and heroin. The government does not take into account the people who suffer from different forms chronic pain, who use these substances to ease their pain. Or the Rastafarians, whose culture encourages the consumption of cannabis. If these people break the law concerning these substances they will be taken to court even though they do not agree with these laws banning these drugs. Yet other intoxicants like alcohol and cigarettes are legal. This shows the government has the power to legalise or illegalise things as they see fit. They also have the means to enforce these laws using the police, courts and the prison system.

The word politics comes from the Greek word polis, which literally means city-state. In ancient Greece the people represented themselves in the state. But today that would not be practical, as we do not have city-states. So we elect people to represent us. We give our leader the power to make decisions on our behalf. Since we elect the prime minister his government is legitimate and we accept any laws they propose. So in that sense government does exercise political power as we give our consent to make laws and enforce them on our behalf.

2.“The practice of politics is often portrayed as little more then the exercise of power.”

Since common sense dictates that government is involved in politics then the above quote states that government is involved in the exercise of political power. So it is my belief that government is involved in the exercise of power. If they were not there to make and enforce decisions then they would have no purpose. If they had no power then it would be a waste of time voting for them. The government is there to make political decisions. They have the power to enforce these decisions through the police and judicial system. Since government are involved in politics and have power to rule it is commonsense that they are involved in the exercise of political power. Whether in international or national affairs the government has political power, which it exercises with or without the consent of its people.