The Nature of Politics

Politics is the process by which society settles it's conflicts over scarce resources and opposing values.

Political scientists Harold Lasswell described politics as the struggle over “Who get what, when and how.” In other words, “Politics is the process through which a society settles it’s conflicts,” over who gets the benefits and who pays the costs of public policy.

There are two basic reasons why conflict is at the centre of politics.

One is scarcity.

Even the richest nations do not have enough wealth to satisfy everyone’s demands. That sets up conflict over how a nation’s resources are distributed. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, but the pie is not big enough to give everyone what they want.

Conflicts stemming from insufficient resources to satisfy everyone's demands, are an everyday part of politics.

The second major source of conflict in society is values. More precisely, values that diverge.

When value differences exist around an issue of policy, conflict is almost inevitable.

Whenever people's values clash, each side will fight to come out on top.

Who wins out when there is conflict over resources or values?

Which side gets what it wants?

The abstract answer is that the winners are those with the most political power.

Power is a basic concept of politics.

Political scientists define power as the ability of an actor-- such as an individual, group, organization, or institution-- to influence policy or control the behaviour of others.

Influence and control-- those are the marks of power.

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