Politics Strengthening the Government

By: Era Luz Maria Prieto of XI – St. Anselm

Politics is a broad term that denotes to a process by which an individual works

under a certain force in order to augment the rules of the place they live in. It is how power

and authority work over a territorial area and in a society. In addition, politics have two

basic modes: conflict and cooperation; to compete and to work together, respectively

(Maitah, n.d.). On the other hand, government is a general body in an institutional

environment that makes decision within a territory (Wolman, et al., n.d.). Politics and

government are sometimes viewed as similar, however, that’s not entirely true. Both are

connected but politics is of broader sense than of the government. Politics is the use of

power itself and government is one of the areas to exercise the use of it. Can politics

strengthen the government? After all, politics is the force which makes the government

function. Thus, politics can strengthen the government since without it, there would be no

established government and government will not be able to operate without politics.

The opposition might say that politics would only bring chaos in the government

due to the abuse use of authority. In some part of the government, it’s operating without

boundaries, thus, illegal acts are committed but is hidden to the public (Center for

Constitutional Rights, n.d.). An example of which is when taking a public property, which

supposed to be for public use, but then it is used for private reasons (Hood, 2012). As a

result, many believe that politics would only make the people within the government

engage in wicked deed, hence, bringing the government down.

 How politics strengthen the government is underrated due to the focus given to how

it can influence the government in an undesirable way. One of the ways politics can

strengthen the government is through using power to establish government. Exercising

one’s power is not entirely evil. Politics exist in order to have someone to make decisions,

to get something done and to discipline us “into accepting the norms in the society”

(Mackenzie, 2006). According to Power (2011), in order to use politics to strengthen

parliamentary, the first thing to do is “to understand the power relationships and incentive

structures that exist within the parliamentary.” Meaning, one must understand as to how

power is shared and controlled within the government in order to perform a certain action.

Government cannot operate without politics simply because politics governs the

government. Eliminating politics would mean the people in the government, and also each

individual within the society, would act independently without strong-arming and

cooperation. Acting without strong-arming means that no force compels an individual to do

something, thus, leading to acting without cooperation – their actions are not in harmony

with others making the government (and society) dysfunctional.

While politics contribute to the weakening of government if not used properly, it is

still apparent that it can reinforce the operation of the government. As our surroundings,

especially in media, are filled with information about the issues regarding our government,

mainly about how power and authority are used in an unlawful manner, it is also a must for

us to look into the positive contribution of politics in our government. Given these points,

politics reinforces the government through using power in order to form a government;

and without politics, government cannot function.

 References
A. Periodicals

Mackenzie, I. M. (2009). Politics: key concepts in Philosophy. Continuum, 10.

Government Abuse of Power. (n.d.). The Center forConstitutional Rights, 3.

Power, G. (2011). The politics of parliamentary strengthening. Global Partners & Associates,
7.

B. Webpages

Hood, J. (2012). How governments abuse their power. Carolina Journal. Retrieved
November 20, 2017 from https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion-article/how-
governments-abuse-their-power/.

Maitah, M. (n.d.). Defining politics. Maitah. Retrieved November 20, 2017 from
http://www.maitah.com/PC/defining%20politics.pdf.

Wolman, H., Levy, A., & Hincapie, D. (n.d.). Chapter VII: government and governance.
Retrieved November 20, 2017 from
https://gwipp.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Working_Paper_044_Governance.pdf.