Factors Contributing To A Healthy Political System

Discussion

A political system represents the system which is responsible for the running of a government. It is essential to understand the political system of a government for the better knowledge of the complex structure of how the government influences the lives of the common people and the economy of the country. The other important factors that are essential for the proper functioning of a political system are generally considered as the legal system, social system, economic system and the other cultural aspects of the society. Most of the modern societies have adopted the system of forming political parties to reflect the ideas of the society. It is very important to understand the factors that influences the laws and leaders of the system. This is required for the ideas and views to distinguish between themselves and contribute towards the building of a society which comprises of a healthy political system. The purpose of this discussion is to look into the different factors of a healthy political system and analyse the influences and arrangements that contribute to the modification of the political system in a society. The discussion will also explore the different models, arrangements and agreements that influence a political change.

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The term politics can be explained from different viewpoints. It can change accordingly to the situations and by the political parties which represent it. However, politics is widely referred to in a negative meaning as to be related to political malpractices for personal benefits and corruption. The dishonesty and corruption that has the potential to weaken the political system of the societies is highly discussed as the play politics which deteriorates a system. However, there are certain systems and theories which can make a healthy political system and contribute to the better enhancement of the society.

Derrida’s deconstruction theory questions the very existence of an ideal political system in the form of democracy. It is not possible for an ideal political system to exist in the present society as the Utopian ideas of honest practices and automated system. However, its existence can be justified if the political system is able to question its own existence. It is essential for a strong political system to question its flaws and highlight them for resolving them in the future. Only then can a proper political system exist which can negate its own negative ideas and form itself as the perfect system.

Legal aspects of a political system

The political system requires to develop its ideas so as it can identify its political goals and work upon the improvement of the system. The different goals of a political system which can be identified as the legal, economic, social and cultural, all play a very significant role in the building of a healthy political system.

An economic goal is the effective result of the financial and monetary policies which aims at creating a healthy economy in the political system of a society. However, it is to be kept in mind that the economic policies which can be beneficial for one sector of the society can be damaging for others. It is essential for the economic policies to address problems such as keeping the inflation rates in control and by regulating the interest rates of the banks. These factors influence the business and the production in an economy. These factors are directly responsible for the conditions of the working class people as the businesses determine the employment rates and look into the overall development of the society. Hence, the economic goals of a healthy political system should be stable prices, full employment and economic growth.

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The legal aspect of a political system is a very sophisticated issue which is applied on different situations in a different manner. The law can be analysed in three forms in relation to a political system, namely, as a goal, means and obstacle. A healthy political system can identify key legal aspects as its goals and set measures to achieve them. Secondly, the political system can use the law as the means to achieve its political interests. Thirdly, it can be seen that a political system is checked by the legal system and hence it becomes an obstacle for the legal system. It is highly essential for a healthy political system to enrich itself in the legal reality and stop its corruption and illicit activities in the legal framework. However, it has to be kept in mind that the law can never be on one side of the social structure. It should balance itself on the basis of its own judgemental abilities. The legal goal of a healthy political system should be always to adhere to the balanced legal system and reduce its own radicalism and absolute authority.

The social goal of a healthy political system refers to the social well-being of the people and the overall development of the society. In order to achieve this goal it is important for the political system to focus on the different factors which support the society. It has been discussed earlier how the political system can address the issues regarding the economic and legal goals. In addition to those, the political system should focus on addressing social problems such as communal harmony and enriching the social well-being of the people by bringing in equality and integrity in the society. An equal status in the fields of education, employment and the other fields of a social life are the key factors that are required to be achieved as the social goals in a political system.

Economic aspects of a political system

According to Karl Marx, the political system of a society is the tool of oppressing a class of people by another class. In Marxism, it has been extensively discussed that the control of production forces is the natural element of any existing political system, and it determines the economic, legal and social structures of the society. The Marxist theories lays emphasis on the class struggle of the society which arises from the use of systematic force by the capitalist class to oppress the working class. The democracy of this political system is controlled by a few individuals who accumulate majority of the wealth of the society and henceforth, enjoys the power of running the political system. It is the struggle of power between the bourgeois and the proletariat. However, according to Marxism, the ideal political system is the socialist structure of government which focuses on the abolition of class division. This political system is one of the most captivating system in the world. However, its utopian nature makes its application as an ideal state in the real world an illusion. Marx believed that the state is just a stage of the social development of the class struggle. If this class struggle can be negated by abolishing the capitalist class, it will ensure the emergence of the dictatorship of the proletariat. This will eventually abolish the class division and make the society an equal and unbiased one. According to Lenin, as long there is the existence of the state, the class division continues and there is no proper freedom, as one class is dominated by the other. The social equality and freedom from the class struggles makes the existence of the state irrelevant. Marx believed that it is only through communism that this type of state ceases to exist and absolute freedom will run the political system of the society, where there will be no requirement of a rule of one class over the other.

Another social philosopher, Thomas Hobbes possesses a contrary idea about the political system in contrast to that of Marx. His ideas are considered more relevant to the modern and contemporary social political system. Hobbes’ theory addresses the issues of social and political order and how the human beings can co-exist in peace in accordance with system and avoid social and political conflicts. Hobbes believes that human beings are by nature egoistic in nature and only looks towards the self-satisfaction of their own motives. In order to address this issue, Hobbes suggests that the human beings in a political system should give in to the authoritative rule of a particular sovereign. This can help the political system take a better standpoint in regards to taking decisions regarding economic or social issues. Failure to this authoritative rule the political system might turn into chaos and can lead to major political unrest and ultimately lead to civil war. This can result to a political insecurity which can lead to severe loss of life and a political unrest and create non-cooperation between the basic elements of the political system.

Social aspects of a political system

There are several models which can help in the analysis and understanding of the political change in society. This models help in the better understanding of the goals of the political system, the key factors influencing them, the changes it can bring and the possibilities of its success. Hirschman’s analysis of reform-mongering model is one of the most popular models which address the political change in society. It highlights the factor about how an increase in the competitiveness among the political parties in a particular political system can influence the government’s performance and force them to achieve development. However, this theory has its own limitations as in this competition there remains an option to exit. This is a popular way which has been used by the educated and ambitious people in a political system to exercise their freedom. As pointed out by, Hirschman, this option of exit weakens the competition in the political system and ultimately leads to the degradation of the opinion of the public and weakens the society.

Przeworski’s threshold model of transitions to democracy analyses the theories of economic development and political system and tries to find its relation with that of democracy. According to Przeworski, The main factors that influence this development is the relation between the economic and politic regimes. This model helps to identify the key facts relating to these factors before jumping to any conclusion. It examines the impact of development in a political system.

The political system is represented by the people. They represent the groups of interest and attract the support of the people by addressing their issues and cooperate to develop the agendas that represent the political development.  The policy makers and the organizations are the reflections of the power of the people and hence requires to work on its full potential adhering to the international policies and agreements between the different political treaties. This helps in the development of international relations and strengthens the political structure of the societies that they represent. Loss of popularity due to wrong decisions and actions hindering the public interests can result in the loss of the strength of the political system by and degrade the overall social structure. A lack of a proper government can result in anarchy and civil unrest.

Conclusion:

The above discussion highlights the several aspects of the political system. It explores the different goals and analyses how they can develop the strengths of a healthy political system. It is important to understand the proper functioning of the system and how it influences the working of the political system. Moreover, the discussion also highlights the worldviews of different social philosophers. Marx’s theory suggests a socially stable political system which negates the class struggle and aims at forming an equal society which represents freedom. It abolishes the idea of a state which identifies itself with the rule of one class over the other. On the contrary, Hobbes’ idea about a political system represents that of the submission of the common people to the authority, failing to which it creates chaos and anarchy. The discussion also looks into the different models of the political changes and highlights the key issues that can be studied to determine the political development. Moreover, it has to be kept in mind while studying political system that the international treaties, political agreements and the international relations play a very important role in the strengths of a healthy political system.

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