Types of political processes and their brief characteristics. Types of political processes
Political events in modern society occur quite often as rates change domestic policy, interrelations between states are increasing. Chain of regular political events called the political process. Let's briefly study the essence, types political processes and factors influencing their development.
Development of the political process
Considering the history of mankind, we can distinguish two stages in the development of the political process.
- Stage 1. Traditional society;
The political process has not yet acquired an organized and clear character; it is developing spontaneously, “from below”: the initiative comes from all people who begin to need power, to establish relations with other tribes (states).
- Stage 2. Industrial and post-industrial society;
The political process is becoming more defined, purposeful, and is now developing “from above”: a layer of people is being formed for whom politics is their main occupation. Political actions are planned, tactically developed programs appear.
As a result of humanity passing through these two stages, a state power, which is distributed between citizens and political forces (governors, parties, government bodies).
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Classification
All types of political regimes are usually divided into several groups:
- by importance for society: private and basic;
- by scale: domestic and international.
Speaking about the political process, it is necessary to understand that it emerges and is regulated by its participants.
In the structure of subjects (participants) of the political process the main positions are occupied by:
- initiators;
- performers.
The purpose of the political process is the problem. To solve it, the following sequence of actions is built:
1. the initiators state a political problem;
2. there is a search for performers who can solve the problem (bodies, officials);
3. methods and means, as well as resources, are selected to solve the problem;
4. active actions, problem solving.
Stages
Any political process goes through several stages:
- formation political system(political forces create their program, fight for power, carry out their course);
In Russia there is a multi-party system, and different political forces offer their solutions to political problems, for example, some parties see the solution to the housing problem in providing financial assistance, others - in reducing interest rates on loans for purchasing real estate, and so on.
- repetition, renewal of established and existing policy mechanisms (regular elections, increase or decrease of functions government agencies and so on);
- making decisions on pressing issues, exercising power;
- exercising control over the actions of the authorities, assessing their activities (special bodies, the media, referendums).
What have we learned?
From the moment of its inception, human society began to form a political system, which in modern society has acquired the most developed structure. Political processes are regulated by society, especially by its representatives (bodies, parties), who are given management functions, decisions internal problems and foreign policy tasks.
In our opinion, four main types of political processes can be distinguished:
1. Economic and political;
2. Structure-forming - a consequence of the formation of certain institutions and systems of norms that model the way the life expectancy of basic social structures;
3. Ideological-political – a consequence of the creation and support of ideological systems;
4. Formation of public opinion.
Domestic political scientist L. S. Mamut highlights following types political processes:
· Formation of bodies of the political system (institutionalization);
· Reproduction of components and features of the political system in the process of its functioning:
· Making and implementing political decisions.
Typology of political processes:
According to the scale of distribution, they are distinguished:
global
regional
local
macroscale (general)
microscale (private)
By objects of political influence:
foreign policy (bilateral and multilateral)
internal political (basic and local)
According to the nature of the relationship between society and power structures:
stable
unstable
In terms of scope:
economic-political
structure-forming
ideological-political
public opinion formation processes
According to the flow form:
explicit (open) processes
shadow processes
From the point of view of system organization political power:
democratic processes
undemocratic processes
26.World community and modern international relations. Principles of world policies, trends and problems of its implementation.
World community (international community) is a political term often used in works on political science, speeches statesmen and in the media to denote the interconnected system of states of the world. Depending on the context, may indicate various groups countries, united according to various economic, political and ideological characteristics. Sometimes it means existing international organizations, primarily the UN, as an organization that unites almost all countries of the globe.
International relations are a set of economic, political, legal, ideological, diplomatic, military, cultural and other connections and relationships between entities operating on the world stage.
Concepts and information about world politics
As history progresses, international politics has increasingly influenced the lives of individual citizens and states as a whole. This is primarily due to the strengthening interdependence of countries and peoples, the expansion of economic, scientific, technical, full and other cooperation between them, the development of interpersonal contacts, the creation of powerful media that do not know national borders and global, worldwide information systems.
In the modern world, various levels of politics: macro-, micro- and mega-levels are closely interconnected and have a great influence on each other.
Politics that goes beyond the boundaries of nation states is characterized by a number of categories:
ü Foreign policy is the external action of one nation, one state. It characterizes the activity or, much less often, the deliberate inactivity of the state in relation to other countries;
ü International politics- the total activities of states in the international arena.
ü Interstate policy - reflects the system of relations between states, their bodies, services and representatives (president, government, parliament, ministry of foreign affairs, etc.);
ü Supranational politics is a relatively new concept in the political lexicon, which has not yet become widespread in Russian political science. It denotes the sphere of politics formed as a result of the transfer by individual states of part of their sovereign rights to supranational bodies that make decisions in this area;
ü Multinational politics is one that influences international relations joint activities united political entities from several or many states, for example (OSCE, OAU). The subjects of this policy are national states;
ü Transnational politics is the sphere of international activity of non-state acts or entities: parties, trade unions, international non-governmental organizations, as well as transnational corporations;
ü Transgovernmental policy.
World politics is the result of a deep transformation of international relations and interactions, the emergence of common problems, the solution to which can no longer be found within the framework of national-state borders. As a result of the ongoing changes, the international system is acquiring a global, worldwide character. Solution global problems world politics is largely determined by the dynamics of economic development, promising integration processes that lead to increased interconnection and interdependence within the world economy and the world market and thereby create an economic basis for the progress of world political relations.
World politics differs from the politics of its constituent elements: it is not just a set or even the resultant of the foreign policies of states and other participants international relations. Including these components and having its own qualitative characteristics, it has an independent influence on the behavior of subjects of international relations. All the main elements of world politics are closely interconnected and interact as parts of a single whole. Its effectiveness depends on many factors, including the effectiveness of the political decisions and recommendations made, and the compliance of the foreign policies of states with the actual situation.
What distinguishes world politics from domestic politics is the absence of a central authority that ensures compliance with rules of conduct that are mandatory for each subject. Therefore, world politics is a high-risk zone in which each participant in interaction is forced to proceed from the often unpredictable behavior of others. Unlike foreign policy, it develops largely spontaneously and is not limited to the activities of states. By its nature and goals, world politics is a special kind of politics, based on the creation and maintenance of a stable international environment in which the interests of all participants could be realized.
However, it would be a mistake to absolutize the features of world politics. Like any politics, it is - albeit a unique - sphere of power relations, it represents competition and coordination of values, goals and interests of states and other international actors. As in any policy, its objects are the distribution of resources and organization public life. This means that world politics acts not only as a special sphere or field of activity of international actors, but also as a process.
World politics should increasingly become a humanistic strategy to unite people regardless of their nationality, state or social class. This is its purpose and purpose. The most immediate task of world politics: to create a system of international security that would be based on trust and peace, free from nuclear weapons, violence, fear, suspicion and hatred.
The next task is to ensure human safety and security. The point is that principles and norms international law have become guidelines for every subject of international relations. Increasing specific gravity First of all, such values as social and economic well-being, personal well-being and security, the inalienability of fundamental human rights and freedoms, increasingly lead to the fact that the state must give them priority over the traditional values of its foreign policy.
The use of force in world politics in the rivalry of states in the international arena is dangerous. This threatens the destruction of humanity. Modern world rich in new elements that contribute to the redistribution of centers of economic and political activity. Thus, major changes are being observed in world politics, in the structure and content of international relations.
Political process
Keywords: political process, political change, modernization, policy initiation, policy formation, policy implementation, policy evaluation, policy style, administration; bureaucracy, rational choice model, sequential constraints model, mixed-scanning model.
Key questions:
1. Concept, structure, stages of the political process.
2. Types of political process.
3. Decision-making process: stages, models for choosing an effective alternative.
Concept, structure, stages of the political process
The dynamism of modern political life, complication of relationships and connections on various levels organizations of society have determined very active use concept of "political process".
In modern domestic political science, to define the concept of the political process, its macro and micro aspects, broad and narrow meaning are rightly distinguished.
IN in a broad sense The political process is defined as the course of development, the reproduction of the political system under the influence of factors acting on it. The political process is the total activity of political subjects, through which the formation, transformation and functioning of the political system of society occurs.
In a narrow sense, the political process can be considered as a set of actions aimed at achieving certain goals, as a process of exercising public authority, as a mechanism by which public policy is “made,” as a process of making political decisions, etc. In other words, the micro level is represented by subprocesses.
Understanding the political process in a broad sense is paramount.
It is very important to understand the political process to imagine the order of its implementation. Holistic the single process is divided into four stages or phases:
1. formation of a political system;
2. reproduction of the components and features of the political system;
3. adoption and execution of political and managerial decisions;
4. control over the functioning of the political system.
Formation political system means bringing together its individual parts into a single political process. Formation takes place taking into account the existing patterns and needs of society, it occurs continuously, constantly renewing itself, and represents the embodiment of the will of the people creating the system. In order to be able to talk about the reproduction of the political system, it is necessary to ensure support and recognition from society.
Reproduction system is identified as a separate stage of the political process, but it must be taken into account that elements of reproduction are present at all stages. The main characteristics of this stage are continuity and renewal. Continuity means the recreation of political relations and institutions, values, norms, the preservation of their essential characteristics while focusing on improvement. Renewability presupposes the emergence of new features and properties of the system, its development.
Making and executing political decisions is one of the most important stages political process. This stage is associated with defining goals and means of achieving them, clarifying the relationship of those interests that stand behind the decision being made.
Control the state and activity of the political system completes the cycle of the political process. It acts as an adjustment to the movement of the political system in accordance with its own principles and the interests of the participants in the process. The political life of society represents a consistent change of political processes: the completion of one cycle means the beginning of the next.
The minimum component, the “unit of measurement” of the political process is political change. Political change – this is a fragment of the political process, reflecting the emergence of a new quality in the method and nature of interaction between political subjects, as well as between the political system and external environment. Analysis of the level and specifics of political changes makes it possible to describe the dynamics, state of the political process, and its varieties.
When studying political changes, we distinguish three modes of the political process: the mode of functioning, development and decline. In conditions operating mode in the political system the established, traditional relations between political subjects are reproduced: the elite and the electorate, political parties, local authorities, etc.
Development mode must be associated with such management methods, using which the political elite could respond to the new demands of the time. The increasing complexity of the structure of the political system requires a search effective technologies power (communications, decision making, etc.).
Decline mode, speaking for itself, is characterized by phenomena destructive to the political system, the inability to find a way out of the crisis, and the loss of legitimacy of power.
The political process is a dynamic characteristic of the political system. It represents a cycle of political changes, a consistent change in the states of the political system. The researcher is focused on a holistic perception of the entire system, on studying the internal logic of the development of political events, the chain of political changes.
Types of political process
It is impossible to avoid the problem of typologizing the political process. The basis for the typology can be very different, depending both on the purpose of the researcher and on some objective parameters, for example, on the method and scale of political changes, political regime etc. A very important basis for typologization is the sociocultural context of the political process. The sociocultural context influencing the political tradition gives grounds to distinguish three types of political process - technocratic, ideocratic and charismatic.
IN technocratic political process, political changes are subject to accepted legal technology. Subjects of political relations adhere to certain functions, without exceeding their powers, without going beyond their political niches. Changing a role or status is possible through the legitimate use of the procedure of political change, using known and developing new technologies. The political leader in this type of process is placed in the space of rationally established norms to perform an objective official duty. His will is functional to the extent that he realizes the interests of the institution he represents. If the “rules of the game” are violated, mechanisms for removal from office are used. This type of political process is characteristic of countries with rich experience in political life, during which there was an evolutionary selection of institutions and mechanisms that adapted to the needs of society. As an example, first of all, the countries of the Anglo-Saxon area are cited, as well as, but to a lesser extent, the Romano-Germanic tradition.
Political process ideocratic type is typical for traditional countries, or for countries at the initial stage of modernization. In this type of political process, the priority is not the technology of political change, but ideology, not the procedure, but the idea that unites society. In this case, a lot depends on the content of ideologies, on the declared basic principles government structure. The ideocratic political process is more characteristic of the East Slavic political tradition, the countries of the East that have not lost their traditional orientation. The ideocratic political process is optimal during the period of structural restructuring of the political system, but ideocracy can be dangerous when it becomes radical, aggressive, and total.
Political process charismatic type is characterized by the omnipotence of a charismatic leader, with whose will ideological doctrines and the work of institutions are associated.
Depending on the nature of the functioning of society, political processes in traditional society are distinguished - traditional; and processes in societies experiencing modernization – political-modernization.
The first type is characterized by patriarchal political life, the absence of pronounced political interests among the population, a low level of participation in political life with scrupulous implementation of external state rituals. The political process under modernization is characterized by the expansion of political participation and the creation of institutions that allow influence on the process of political decision-making. According to modernization theories, the political system does not depend on the nature of the socio-economic formation, but on type of modernization, those. way to move from traditional values to modern rational structures.
The problem of the influence of modernization on politics is debatable. Political modernization is characterized by the fact that political authority is perceived rationally, and a wide variety of political roles appears. At the same time, multiple centers of influence, such as religious, clan, and ethnic, are replaced by a single national government, which increases national centralization and integration. At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish modernization as a process, as a direction of transition to a political system modern type from political modernization as a result that does not always correspond to ideal models and does not necessarily lead to the above characteristics.
Evolutionary and revolutionary political processes are characterized as such depending on the methods used and the nature of the goals set. During the revolutionary process, transformations are radical in nature and forceful means are used. The basis of evolutionary development is made up of progressive transformations carried out by legitimate authorities.
By scale they distinguish global political process, regional And local.
Global (world) the political process is represented by a multitude of equal subjects of political relations influencing the situation in the world. Regional the process covers any geopolitical area. Local the political process is private.
According to the object of influence, they distinguish foreign policy and domestic policy. Foreign policy regulates the state’s relations with other subjects of foreign policy activity, and the social, economic structure, as well as the cultural specifics of each specific country are decisive for the internal political process.
In terms of publicity, politicians stand out open and hidden (shadow) political processes. An open political process is characterized by developed communication between its participants, the state and the interested public. The hidden process is associated with limited communication between the state and society, the special role of shadow structures, emerging large-scale corruption, etc.
Political processes differ from each other in scale, duration, factors, nature of interaction between factors, etc. In political science there are various types political processes. There are several ways to typify political processes, based on different criteria.
Based on the diversity of political processes, several types can be distinguished. These are, first of all, everyday political processes (“small” factors and units of measurement), which are primarily associated with processes with direct interactions of individual, group and partially institutional factors. An example is the legislative process in a parliament.
Another type of political process is the historical political process (larger factors - mainly groups and institutions). These are processes associated with the commission of any historical event. Thus, a political revolution can be presented as a process of this kind. The emergence and development of a political party can be considered the same historical process.
Finally, these are evolutionary political processes that are characterized by the participation of “large” factors (institutions, the political system), and are also measurable using large-scale time units. Such processes could be, for example, the process of turning a polis into an imperial capital, or the modernization of the political system as a result of a series of political reforms, or the transition to democracy as a result of the dismantling of authoritarian rule, the holding of constituent elections, and then their consolidation in a series of regular competitive elections.
There are other criteria for distinguishing individual types and varieties of the political process. So, A.I. Soloviev makes similar distinctions based on differences in subject areas. In addition, A.I. Soloviev distinguishes open and closed political processes. Closed political processes “mean that type of change that can be fairly clearly assessed within the criteria of better/worst, desirable/undesirable, etc. Open processes demonstrate a type of change that does not allow us to assume what character - positive or negative for the subject - the existing transformations have or which of the possible strategies in the future is more preferable... In other words, this type of process characterizes changes that occur in extremely unclear and uncertain situations, which imply increased hypotheticalness of both performed and planned actions.” Also, it highlights stable and transient processes. Stable processes presuppose “stable reproduction of political relations,” while transitional ones imply the absence of “a clear predominance of certain basic properties of the organization of power,” which is carried out in conditions of “imbalance in the political activity of the main subjects.”
The political process is a dynamic characteristic of politics. Therefore, it can be argued that the forms of existence of the political process are political changes and political development. Many researchers highlight various types political processes, understanding by them the types of political changes and political development.
Depending on the nature of the changes, evolutionary and revolutionary types of political development are distinguished. By evolutionary we mean a type that includes gradual, step-by-step qualitative changes. Revolutionary is a type of development focused on scale and transience. Despite the heuristic significance of identifying these types, one should recognize the conventions of their distinction in relation to political development. In reality, political development is evolutionary in nature, revolutions are only part of the evolutionary path. Their scale and transience are of fundamental importance only from the point of view of everyday life and history.
Quite often, stable and crisis types of development are distinguished. It is assumed that a stable type of political development is characteristic of societies where there are sufficient institutional guarantees and social consensus that prevent sudden changes in the political course and, especially, a sharp change in the political regime. At the same time, it is assumed that the basis for stable development is the ability of the system to adequately respond to environmental challenges. This contributes to the gradual and smooth nature of the changes.
The crisis type of development is characteristic of societies where there are no such necessary conditions and the system is unable to provide adequate responses to external changes. Then political development takes place in the form of a crisis, which can affect both individual aspects of political life and the entire system. The development of a full-scale crisis leads to an unstable state of the system or even to its collapse.
The distinction between these two types of political development should also be considered conditional. In fact, stable or crisis development is very often understood not as the evolutionary dynamics of a political system, but as a characteristic of everyday and historical political processes occurring within its framework. However, reports, for example, about a government crisis do not at all indicate the crisis nature of the political development of a given political system.
It should also be noted that in practice the impetus and, in a certain sense, the engine of development of any political system are systemic crises. Crises arise as a result of inconsistency between structures and methods of communication between elements of the system and emerging needs. Their resolution requires qualitative changes in the system or its individual parts. In practice, we can usually observe an alternation of crises and periods of relative stability. Thus, the crisis nature of changes should be considered and political stability not as characteristics of political development as a whole, but as features of its individual moments.
Types of political development are also distinguished based on its content. Among them, globalization deserves special mention. Other types of political development are political modernization and democratization.
according to the ways of achieving dynamic equilibrium of the political system in the course of its transformations, implying a certain sequence of political changes (this classification is the result of a theoretical assumption, the identification of certain ideal types, which are closely interrelated and intertwined in political practice):
The political process is of a technocratic type.
Peculiarities:
Among the factors of political change, preference is given to political technologies and procedures: norms, traditions, the procedure for making political decisions, methods of legitimate vesting of power.
Participants strictly adhere to those political roles and functions that are prescribed to them by law and political traditions.
This type developed in countries with a relatively high homogeneity of the cultural environment - in Anglo-Saxon countries.
The adherence of the majority of the population to traditions ensures the stability of the political system, the preservation high efficiency its political institutions, since leaders act as bearers of the interests of those institutions that they directly represent.
Political process of ideocratic type.
Peculiarities:
Characteristic for traditional societies, where there is no autonomous personality, developed differentiation of political roles and functions, which are at the initial stage of modernization.
It is possible to integrate an ethnoculturally and socioeconomically diverse society on the basis of a national idea.
Political process of charismatic type.
Peculiarities:
This type is typical for eastern cultural tradition, within the framework of which the role and status of the political leader are absolutized, and often he is simply deified. But a political leader is not always a leader by position. He can also be an informal leader.
The charismatic type of political change is effective if it is complemented by technocratic and ideocratic political processes. With the immaturity of civil society and political infrastructure, with a low legal culture and the absence of national agreement on the features and properties of the desired society, one again has to rely on the individual: he can become a nomenklatura official or simply a demagogue.
The charisma of a leader can be based either on his official status or on his ability to express the aspirations of the vast majority of members of society, using discontent, protest and promising to change the situation for the better.
Political processes are divided into:
A.) foreign policy and domestic policy.
B.) on mass participation:
Engaging (democratic, democratic process, direct democracy, representative, pluralistic);
Non-partisan (non-democratic, totalitarian, theocratic, autocratic).
B.) by publicity:
Open;
Hidden (shadow).
D.) by transformation forms:
Revolutionary;
Evolutionary.
D.) on the stability of relationships:
Stable;
Unstable.
Extreme types of political process:
Insurrection. Its features:
Depending on the historical era, the social composition of the participants in the uprising is characterized by great diversity. They are distinguished by the degree of intensity, duration, possibility of success, level of organization, spiritual and psychological impulses that inspire the participants.
Any uprising is characterized by a certain level of organization; leaders who put forward certain goals play a large role here. These goals are justified in a simple program and slogans.
Riot. Its features:
By the presence of a certain degree of organization and purposefulness, an uprising differs from a riot - a mass action that has a very high degree of intensity, the activity of its participants, but is even more limited by the time of its occurrence, as well as by the problem, the cause that caused it.
A riot is almost always a response to any extraordinary actions of representatives of dominant political groups or government bodies, without outgrowing the limited tasks of resistance to individual government actions.
Mutiny. Its features:
A rebellion is close to a riot in terms of intensity and emotional intensity, but unlike it, it has a more limited number of participants.
A rebellion arises as a result of thoughtful, purposeful preparation of a certain group of people. It is armed in nature, the emphasis is on military force, the main core of the rebels is usually the army.
With the addition of a wider range of participants to its initiators, the rebellion quickly loses the quality of an organized, purposeful action, acquires such features as the extreme breadth of accusations against society, intolerance towards civilization, any kind of leadership, and takes the path of its total rejection. A person here is subject to emotions, and his actions increasingly lose touch with the real conditions and possibilities of society. This logic of development quickly gives the rebellion the quality of rebellion; it exhausts its transformative potential and fades away.
Putsch. If the masses do not join the rebels, then the rebellion becomes a putsch, that is, it is expressed in armed actions that are not based either on broad support, or on consideration of the situation, or on a well-thought-out program.
In general, we can distinguish the main types of political processes: local-regional and global: intrasystem and transitional (transit), stable and crisis; legal and shadow
