Introduction

Political science studies not only political institutions, for example, the state, parties, the essence of politics and political power, but also the processes of developing and making political decisions, the interaction of governments, parliaments, parties and other political forces. The reasons for the emergence of a particular political problem are examined, how this problem gets on the agenda of society, how management institutions react to it, and what decisions are made on it. In other words, we are talking about political practice, organizational and control activities, specific management, selection and placement of personnel, discussion and decision-making, exchange of information between subjects of the political process and much more. This is the political process, which is formed and directed primarily by the forces in power who make the main political decisions.

Sometimes the political process is compared to the two-faced Janus - the Roman deity of doors, entrance and exit, every beginning, one face of which is turned to the past, the other to the future. Like it, the political process is connected with the past and directed towards the future, although it takes place in the present tense. It reflects political reality, which does not develop according to the wishes of leaders and the instructions of scientists, but is the result of the interweaving, struggle of interests of various political forces, social groups, the behavior of these groups and citizens, their ideas about what they would like to receive from the government and the state. Living people act in the political process with their hopes, expectations, prejudices, level of culture and education.

The political process appears as a result of the mutual influence of groups, as the actions of the government and their impact on the state of society.

Political process

The essence of the political process

The term “process” (from the Latin processus - advancement) usually characterizes a certain movement, a move, an order of movement that has its own direction; sequential change of states, stages, evolution; a set of sequential actions to achieve a result.

The political process is a consistent, internally connected chain of political events and phenomena, as well as a set of sequential actions of various political subjects aimed at gaining, retaining, strengthening and using political power in society. The political process is the cumulative and consistent activity of social communities, socio-political organizations and groups, individuals pursuing certain political goals; in a narrow sense - purposeful and related activities of social and institutional subjects of politics over a certain period of time to implement political decisions.

The political process as a whole: the course of development of political phenomena, the totality of actions of various political forces (subjects of politics), movements seeking the implementation of certain political goals; the form of functioning of a certain political system of society, evolving in space and time; one of the social processes, as opposed to legal, economic, etc.; designation of a specific process with the end result of a certain scale (revolution, reform of society, formation of a political party, movement, progress of a strike, election campaign, etc.).

The political process acts as a functional characteristic of political life as a whole, determining the performance by subjects of power of their specific roles and functions. Analyzing the content of the political process along the “vertical”, we can say that it includes two main forms of political expression of citizens. Firstly, these are various ways for ordinary participants in the political process to present their interests in various types of political activity: participation in elections, referendums, strikes, socio-political movements, etc. Secondly, the adoption and implementation of management decisions carried out by political leaders and elites.

The goals that subjects of political activity set for themselves are different. They can be aimed at strengthening the political system, reforming it or destroying it. The motivation for certain goals lies in the needs and interests of people. Need means needing something interest aimed at creating conditions to meet needs. In politics, these include gaining or influencing power.

The main needs of people, the satisfaction of which political activity is aimed at, are economic and material needs. Political interests can also be generated by political needs themselves: in involvement in or exercise of power, in satisfying group or personal political ambitions (vanity, pride), as well as spiritual, cultural, moral, environmental problems, the solution of which is in one way or another connected with political decisions.

Needs become political interests and cause certain political actions when people realize that the satisfaction of needs and interests depends on their influence on power and changes in the political system. This awareness is helped by subjects of political activity, in particular political parties, which unite the most politically prepared, courageous people who are capable of taking action; personal sacrifices to achieve a set political goal.

Political elites, public organizations, social movements, labor collectives can also play a certain role in political activity regarding the replacement or change of power, nominating political leaders - the main conductors of the policy of a particular class or social group. In turn, outstanding personalities often act as organizers of political parties and social movements (for example, V.I. Lenin, L. Walesa, etc.).

The state has a special place in political processes. It is simultaneously both an object and a subject of political activity. Objectivity lies in the fact that the actions of political forces are most often directed at it. Subjectivity is manifested primarily in the fact that its functions include regulating the relationships between other subjects of political activity - classes, nations, political parties, etc. It also has the authority to make decisions leading to changes in the political system, including radical ones.

Political activity is realized in practical actions aimed at realizing political goals and implementing political programs. These actions are carried out in certain forms.

Usually there are two forms of political action--peaceful (non-violent) And violent.

The most important peaceful Political action is reform, by which we mean change, transformation, reorganization of aspects of social life while maintaining the foundations of the existing system. Reforms, unlike revolutions, do not involve a transfer of power from one class to another and promote economic and social progress.

Peaceful methods of political action include conformism(from lat. conformis-- similar, similar), i.e. opportunism, passive acceptance of the existing order, prevailing opinion, etc. Conformists have weak or no positions of their own. They obediently follow any political course and submit to a more powerful political entity or authority. In our society, many people have a conformist position manifested in the formulas “I’m a small person,” “my house is on the edge,” etc.

A peaceful, non-violent form of political action includes parliamentary ways and methods solving political problems, for example by amending the constitution, passing laws, making treaties, holding elections, and inter-party, inter-state and inter-group negotiations.

The most typical violent actions are war, revolution, counter-revolution, dictatorship, terrorism.

War -- it is an armed struggle between states, classes or ethnic communities. It can be interstate, civil, or international (interethnic). War, as the German military theorist K. von Clausewitz noted, is a continuation of state policy and political relations by other (violent) means.

Wars are especially dangerous in our time, the time of nuclear and chemical weapons, when any local war can lead to a worldwide military conflagration.

Revolution-- this is a qualitative change in the development of nature, society and knowledge (for example, geological, scientific and technical, cultural, social). A social revolution involves a radical revolution in the socio-economic and political structure of society. The first act marking the transition from one socio-economic formation to another is a political revolution, i.e. the conquest of political power by the revolutionary class. It can be carried out in peaceful and non-peaceful forms. The question of gaining power is the main question of any revolution.

Counter-revolution represents the reaction of the overthrown or overthrown class to the social revolution, the struggle to suppress the new government and restore the old order. Since the ruling (or dominant) classes do not voluntarily give up power, counter-revolutionary resistance in one form or another accompanies every revolution.

Dictatorship -- system of political domination, unlimited power of a group, an individual. Dictatorship is also a special way of exercising power using violent methods, repression, and armed force. Dictatorship is divided into revolutionary and authoritarian.

One of the extremist (extreme) methods of political action is terror. Terror (from Lat. terror -- fear) - reprisal against political opponents by violent means (murder, infliction of severe injuries), the use of various means to induce fear among political opponents and the population to destabilize the situation in the country or in a certain territory. In addition to murders, blackmail, hostage-taking, explosions of vehicles, buildings, etc. have been used. Recently, international terrorism has become widespread, used in interstate relations, as well as between various political forces consolidating on an international scale (various kinds of leftist organizations, religious, nationalist ).

In the process of democratization of Soviet society, a number of regions use spontaneous forms of mass political action: rallies, processions, strikes. Along with these civilized forms of manifestation of political views and various demands, there are many cases of aggressive crowd actions leading to human casualties.

Spontaneous behavior is most often a mass reaction of people to economic and political crises, to the deterioration of their social situation. Often spontaneous mass actions are irrational (unreasonable) in nature. They are used by forces seeking to divert people’s anger from themselves and direct it against the “image of the enemy” they form. They are often used by unscrupulous politicians to gain political capital.

The most amenable to mass political action are the so-called marginal strata, or lumpen. In ancient times they were called "ochlos" (rabble) in contrast to "demos" (people). This is where the concepts of “ochlocracy”—the power of the crowd—and “democracy”—the power of the people—come from. Often the crowd involves in its actions people with a higher social status, including representatives of the intelligentsia.

Along with the crowd come “leaders” who promise an easy way to solve economic and political problems, using racial, national, religious and other prejudices. The “leaders” need power, which they want to gain with the help of the crowd in conditions of fear or dissatisfaction of the masses with the existing situation.

Because of the anonymity of the crowd and its irresponsibility, a person is capable of actions (even murder) that he would never commit if he were alone. In a crowd, a person easily sacrifices his personal interests to collectivism. In it, he is easily susceptible to suggestion, mass hypnosis (for example, the influence on the crowd of Hitler, Kashpirovsky, musical ensembles, singers, football).

The transformation of such democratic forms of expression of political needs as demonstrations and rallies into a riot of a crowd with its aggressive, unconstructive actions cannot but cause concern among people. In this regard, the question of developing a democratic political culture, civilized forms of political activity and political participation among the population becomes even more pressing.

State bodies and other political subjects, influencing the relationships of various social groups, use a variety of types of regulatory activities: legal, managerial, organizational, educational, propaganda. They use various means of political influence: media and propaganda, political sciences, political education systems, literature and art, closely interacting with government bodies, parties and other public organizations, as well as the judicial system, public order and state security agencies, the army, etc.

Introduction

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Politics appears to the observer, first of all, as a series of events: the head of state made such and such a statement, deputies of parliament adopted such and such a law, a political party held its next congress, workers in the capital went to a rally. We have randomly listed several events, but they are quite typical for the political life of modern society. Political science strives to study this side of political reality, i.e. to identifying the internal sequence of certain political events and the cause-and-effect relationship existing between them. To designate this direction of political science research, the concept of “political process” is introduced.

The political process is the eventful side of political life, i.e. the emergence and sequence of political events. The political process reveals all the diversity, complexity and contradictions of political life. Thanks to its study, we can see how institutionalized political relations and cultural models and values ​​are embodied in the real actions of people; in these contradictory acts, collisions arise when individuals try to realize their needs, attitudes, and value orientations. We can say that the political process is a sequence of events in which, through the efforts of people, political structures are reproduced and created, and the political aspirations and attitudes of individuals and social groups are realized and changed. It is during the political process that the connection between the internal subjective world of an individual and the objective world of politics, created by many people, occurs.

Let us dwell in more detail on some of the main features of the political process. First of all, we note that the political process has a spatiotemporal conditionality. Any event takes place at a certain time and in a certain place in physical space. This could be the parliament building, a square, a television studio, a room where a party congress is scheduled to be held, etc. The place imposes certain restrictions on the actions of the people involved in a particular event. More people can gather in the square than indoors; broadcasting from a television studio makes it possible to further expand the circle of people involved in the event. Participants in an event can concentrate in one place, or they can be scattered over a large territorial space, and then each of them can initiate a new chain of interconnected events.

Political structures, unlike the political process, have neither temporal nor spatial conditions. The State Duma, regardless of what time and in what room it meets, will remain the Russian parliament with the rights and responsibilities listed in the Constitution. However, events in the State Duma itself can develop differently. Deputies, for example, if they are suddenly transferred to another building, may begin to express complaints related to the lack of necessary conditions for full-fledged work.

The purpose of the work is to study the essence of the political process.

1. What is the political process? Which definitions do you consider the most successful? Give reasons

The political process is understood as the dynamic dimension of political life, which consists in the reproduction of the components of the political system of society, as well as in changing its state; political activity of political subjects associated with the struggle for power and influencing power structures.

In political science, as a rule, processes are considered at the macro and micro levels. The macro level is associated with the reproduction of the political system, which is carried out under the influence of factors acting on it. At the micro level, the political process is understood as a set of subprocesses, as a certain resultant of the actions (actions) of various social and political subjects. The political process acts as a result of the influence of interest groups on government bodies, which leads to the adoption of decisions that affect the state of society.

The political process is considered as one of the social processes, along with economic, ideological, legal, and also as a form of functioning of the political system of society, evolving in time and space. Thus, A. Degtyarev considers the political process as “a social macro-process, firstly, characterizing the temporal sequence of integral states of communication between people regarding power in the space of its legitimate maintenance; secondly, expressing the resultant result of individual and group micro-actions, that is, the total political activity of a given community; thirdly, including the ways of interaction between state and society, institutions and groups, political system and social environment, government and citizen; and fourthly, simultaneously reproducing and changing the structural-functional and institutional matrix (hierarchy of rules and forms) of the political order (system).”

The content of the political process in modern Russia is strengthening and increasing the efficiency of state power, reforming the state apparatus, strengthening market relations, establishing transparency in the actions of government bodies, parties, public organizations, developing political pluralism and constructive opposition to government.

The content of the political process is influenced by the following factors: the degree of separation and balance of legislative, executive and judicial powers; level of centralization (decentralization) of power; interaction of party and government structures directly or indirectly influencing the political decision-making process; ways of making and implementing political decisions; the relationship between the rights and prerogatives of central and local authorities; relationships within the ruling layer (relations between the ruling and opposition elites, level of corruption, etc.).

One of the most common modern political processes is democratization. Domestic political scientist V. Nikonov, determining the direction of the political process in modern Russia, believes that in order to give it a democratic direction, it is necessary to observe two principles.

The first of these states: “...the political process must operate and develop in accordance with rules and procedures that are beyond the control of one person, even the most powerful,” on the basis that political leaders should not determine the rules by which they will play.

The second principle is that “the existing reality, the conflicts that the era gives rise to, should not dictate the process of creating a political system, should not find their immediate resolution at the moment when a new democratic state is created. Because the desire to reconcile the interests of all participants in the political game at the stage of creating a new constitution threatens future conflicts, the nature of which cannot be fully predicted.”

Some researchers define the structure of the political process as a set of interactions between actors, as well as their logical sequence. Others include the following elements in the structure: subjects, objects, as well as means, methods, resources.

Subjects, temporal and spatial units of measurement, factors influencing political changes, norms regulating relations between participants are called parameters of the political process. The outcome of the political process depends on a combination of factors, both internal and external to it. Internal factors include the characteristics of subjects, the distribution of power resources, and the logic of the political process. External factors are socio-economic, socio-cultural conditions that form the environment, as well as its impact, which are circumstances external to a given political process (rules of the political game, external political events, etc.). Inconsistency between elements of the political process can lead to unforeseen results.

The main subjects or actors of the political process are political institutions, the main of which are the state and civil society, as well as political parties, public organizations, interest groups, and individual citizens. From numerous actions (actions) and interactions (interactions) of various actors, the overall course and results of the macroprocess are formed, which in turn consists of microprocesses or subprocesses. For example, the activity of a political institution lies not only in its ability to make effective decisions, but also in the interaction of various pressure groups promoting their interests through this institution, in the implementation of the career plans of various citizens within the framework of this institution, etc. Therefore, the analysis takes into account both macro-results and the micro-processes that form them.

The activities of political actors are characterized by the following indicators: potential, type of action, methods of interaction.

The potential depends on their composition (individual or group), the degree of organization, mobilization of the subject, and the volume of its resources.

The type of action depends on the means, forms and methods of political struggle: parliamentary forms associated with the work of representative authorities, or a rally; violent or nonviolent types of political activity; official and unofficial influence of subjects regarding access to resources and levers of power.

The methods of interaction are determined by the types of relationships between actors. There are various options for political interactions: confrontation, neutrality, compromise, alliance, consensus. This division is based on the principle of correlation between social interests and political positions of the subjects coming into contact.

Confrontation presupposes open confrontation between political subjects. Neutrality promotes the subject’s temporary withdrawal from the field of active interactions. Compromise is based on mutual concessions, the purpose of which is to maintain a stable status quo in relations between subjects. A union is a closer, perhaps even friendly, form of political interaction when there is objective overlap of interests and some overlap of positions. Consensus is achieved through agreement on all key positions with almost complete coincidence in everyone’s understanding of their interests.

Resources may include knowledge, science, technical and financial means, ideology, mass sentiment, public opinion, etc. The object of the political process is, as a rule, society, consisting of various classes and social groups, as well as individuals. The means include both non-violent ones associated with communicative actions, and means of state pressure. The method of exercising power is the political regime, which determines the form of the political process (democratic or authoritarian).

The structure of the political process also includes political relations regarding production, distribution, exchange and consumption, as well as political behavior, including political activity and political participation.

The most common point of view is that the structure of the political process is viewed through the prism of interaction between the state and civil society, public administration and political participation, the political system and its social environment, as well as from the perspective of the activities of social actors and the functioning of political institutions that make up the content of the holistic macro process .

Interactions between the ruling group, which carries out management functions, and other groups of society, influencing the ruling elite, collaborating or competing with each other, form the general content of the political process, understood as a transition from one structure of the balance of power to another.

2. The most important types of modern political processes

In accordance with the content of the political process, its types and varieties can be distinguished. A typology of political processes can be made on the basis of various criteria: a) according to the object of political influence: on external and internal political processes; b) by the nature of the participation of the masses in political life: free political participation of citizens in relations with the state (the so-called non-partisan systems), in democratic regimes and strictly centralized methods of making management decisions (the so-called biased systems), characteristic of non-democratic ones, totalitarian regimes; c) by the nature of the transformation of power: revolutionary and evolutionary types of the political process. Both types of process are caused by a national crisis, including a crisis of power. The revolutionary process can occur in both violent (including bloody) and peaceful forms, but in any case it is fleeting. This means the sudden destruction of traditional power structures, legislation, as well as a break in continuity in the development of the material and spiritual culture of society, its mentality. The advantage of this path - the speed of implementation - turns out to be imaginary over time, and the results achieved during the revolution, as a rule, are the opposite of those that the organizers counted on (an example is the Bourgeois French Revolution of the late 18th century, the October Revolution, etc.). Revolutions, as a rule, arise not only because of the severity of social contradictions in society, but also as a result of the inability of the authorities to balance these contradictions by finding a compromise between the interests of various social groups, the lack of constant legitimization of power, and national harmony between the authorities and the people. Compromise, consensus, civilized resolution of conflict situations, constantly finding a balance of interests of social groups in a rapidly changing concrete historical situation, a successful search for national consent are tools for evolutionary forms of development of the political process. The apparent disadvantage of evolution is its long-term nature, when reformers cannot count on seeing the fruits of the reform. However, evolution has a decisive advantage: it is bloodless, ensures the continuity of the political and historical process as a whole, continuity and progressive development of all spheres of society. Finally, the genetic fund of society is not destroyed. Today, when, as a result of the development of scientific and technological progress, the national wealth of economically developed countries has increased immeasurably and through its redistribution it is possible to mitigate social contradictions and increase the middle class, increasingly favorable opportunities for evolution are being created. History has already proven this when, in the 50s - 70s of the 20th century, the countries of classical capitalism gradually began to transform into essentially a new civilization, which some political scientists classify as “socialized capitalism”, “modernized”, “rational”, “post-industrial” society .

3. Describe the specifics of these varieties

The level of the political process is the scale of the ongoing political events and their significance. Four levels of the political process can be distinguished:

political events in the life of one person, or political biography. At this level, only those events in which a specific individual participated are recorded. Typically, this level of the political process is of interest to biographers who describe the lives and activities primarily of outstanding people, former and current professional politicians;

However, such a political biography can also be had by an ordinary person with a limited degree of involvement in political events;

political events in which members of one organization, group, or region were involved. For example, the process of creating and developing a party. The description of this process will include a story about the events that led to the constitution of the organization, about the internal political struggle in its ranks, about the participation of its representatives and activists in various actions, including election campaigns, about the activities of members of this party in the highest government bodies and etc. Many political processes of this level are simultaneously unfolding in society; a new socio-political organization is being created, the party is holding its next congress, a pressure group is launching an action to influence the government, a rally is being held in the region under political slogans. Moreover, all these events can be completely unrelated. This disconnection of events allows us to highlight another characteristic of the political process in the country, its discreteness, i.e. the fragmentation of political events taking place in the country and the absence of a direct cause-and-effect relationship between them;

political events of a national scale, i.e. influencing the development of society as a whole. The national level of the political process allows us to paint a general picture of political life in the country. In the course of this analysis, the alignment of political forces is revealed, mass sentiments are identified, and events that can negatively affect the stability of the entire society are highlighted. This level of analysis of the political process is dominant both in scientific research and in various information broadcasts in the media. The reason for this is, first of all, that events of this level inevitably affect, to one degree or another, the lives of all segments of the population. Political events of a national scale include the adoption of fundamental bills, important orders of the executive branch, this also includes personnel appointments in the system of government, if they can significantly affect the balance of political forces in the country;

intercity, global level of political processes. It includes events related to the building of relations with other nations, with the cooperation of different states in solving global problems, with the contradictions and conflicts that arise between them, etc. The main actors in international processes are, first of all, heads of state, heads of foreign policy government departments, as well as leaders of political parties and public organizations. However, some international processes may also involve fairly wide sections of the population that do not occupy a high status position in the political hierarchy.

Level is the scale of the political process, but events can be combined depending on their focus and functional purpose. This typology of political processes allows us to identify a chain of events that influence the solution of any problem that is significant for society as a whole. Depending on the orientation towards achieving a certain result, political processes can be divided as follows:

cooperative processes, during which the efforts of various political forces are combined, party or government coalitions are established, associations are created, interest groups are united into blocs, and organizations are formed. Cooperative processes include the holding of mass joint actions, demonstrations, and rallies by various political associations. Special types of cooperative processes are the legislative process and the process of making management decisions by executive authorities. In both cases, we are talking about a complex search for a compromise achieved through the coordination of numerous opinions, positions, and views;

competitive processes that make it possible to describe and understand the specifics of rivalry between political subjects in the struggle for prestigious positions in the political hierarchy, for influence on the masses, for the right to manage resources. One type of competitive process is the electoral process, during which a complex tangle of events related to the actions of candidates for senior government positions unwinds;

conflicts that include a chain of events indicating an aggravation of relations between individual groups or organizations and the emergence of confrontation in society. We will talk in more detail about this type of political process below;

innovative processes during which new political and social structures are created. This includes, first of all, the directed actions of political subjects to create new institutions, to reform the political system, as well as events during which spontaneously, often against the will of the participants themselves, the destruction of old structures occurs and the foundations of social innovations are laid.

The identification of these types of political process is rather conditional.

Usually they are closely intertwined with each other. Cooperative interactions can lead to innovative changes; conflict situations often arise on the periphery of competitive processes, and people’s desire to find a way out of the conflict pushes them towards cooperation.

At the same time, studying the specifics of each of these processes allows us to better understand the trends of political development in each specific society.

So, the political process in society can be represented as multi-level and diverse in the focus of the tasks being solved. That is why, in relation to society, they often talk about not one, but many political processes.

Complexity, inconsistency, and mutual interweaving of various political processes are a characteristic feature of the political life of modern society.

Main types of political processes:

formation of bodies of the political system (institutionalization); in the course of it, previously non-existent political institutions are created and relations between them are established, regulated by special norms;

reproduction of components and features of the political system in the process of its functioning; it is not difficult to see that political life consists not only of continuous renewal, the emergence of previously existing political relations and institutions, but also of actions to maintain these relations in a stable state, using mechanisms such as traditions, political procedures, legal and ideological regulations;

adoption and execution of political decisions that define tasks and methods for solving them, choosing means to achieve political goals, and directions of political action.

The interconnection of these processes gives rise to a complex combination of actions aimed at ensuring the constancy, inviolability of political relations and their changes, giving them dynamics and renewal.

Since political processes affect, quite significantly, social interests, and they are different, people have ambivalent attitudes towards different types of them, giving preference to some and downplaying or completely ignoring others.

Extreme positions in relation to political processes are conservatism, which is expressed in the fact that its adherents see the main importance of political processes in maintaining the constancy, immutability of the political system, perceive any of its transformation as something dangerous and undesirable, and revolutionism, which represents political life as a continuous and abrupt breakdown of the forms of its organization.

Conclusion

political system actor

In Russian political science, the political process is considered as a special type of socio-historical processes. Its main feature is the achievement of common goals by political actors through the use of power and existing norms. The mechanism of the political process is the interaction of public institutions and social groups with their consciousness and psychology. The nature and content of the political process is determined by the characteristics of a given political system and the existing political regime.

In American political science, the sociological interpretation of the political process has become widespread. These are interactions between social actors and bearers of political power based on their performance of political roles and functions. American political scientist Pai put value relations as the basis for political interaction. From his point of view, the content and nature of political interaction is determined by the cultural system of the social subject and the bearers of power.

The value attitude underlies the civilizational approach to the classification of various societies. Those. All societies are divided into two main types: Western and Eastern.

Bibliography

1.Anokhin M.G. Political technologies // Bulletin of the Russian Peoples' Friendship University. - Ser. Political science. - 2010. - No. 2 - P. 101-104.

2.Gender as a tool of knowledge and transformation of society. / Ed.-comp. E.A. Ballaeva, O.A. Voronina, L.G. Lunyakova. - M., 2006. - 304 p.

.Gender inequality in modern Russia through the prism of statistics. / Rep. ed. and comp. Dan. M.E. Baskakova. - M.: Editorial URSS, 2009. - 336 p.

.Degtyarev A. Fundamentals of political theory: Textbook. allowance. - M., 2008. - 296 p.

.Isaev B.A., Baranov N.A. Political relations and political process in modern Russia. Tutorial. - St. Petersburg, 2008. - 395 p.

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Political events in modern society occur quite often, as domestic policies change and interrelations between states increase. The chain of regular political events is called the political process. Let us briefly study the essence, types of 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 the two indicated stages, state power is formed, which is distributed between citizens and political forces (rulers, 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 to solve the problem are selected;

4. active actions, problem solving.

Stages

Any political process goes through several stages:

• formation of a 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 material 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, increasing or decreasing the functions of government bodies, and so on);
• making decisions on pressing issues, exercising power;
• exercising control over the actions of the authorities, assessing their activities (special bodies, 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 the functions of management, solving internal problems and foreign policy tasks.

the totality of actions of political subjects, their interaction in using political power to implement their political ideas, interests and concepts.

Great definition

Incomplete definition ↓

POLITICAL PROCESS

a set of activities of political subjects, guaranteed by law and included in the dynamics of practical political relations, which cover all stages of the development and functioning of the political system of society. The political process is continuous and complex. It can develop in different directions, superimpose one activity on another, stage on stage, be the unity of diversity and the diversity of unity.

The political process has the following stages: identification and coordination of interests, formation of goals and program of activities; discussion and adoption of a political program; implementation of the program in the activities of socio-political communities and individuals; control over its implementation; evaluation of the result, determination of types of responsibility for its implementation, success or failure.

The political process also has a number of its own characteristics. Firstly, the main importance in determining the political process is the analysis of the subjects of political activity, finding out who exactly is the initiator of this process, in whose interests it is carried out, and who is able to ensure its consistent development. Secondly, the actual political process is always influenced by various political efforts. “Right” and “left”, conservatives and radicals, reactionaries and liberals - all of them, each in their own way, influence the specific course of political events. A lot in understanding the changes taking place depends on a correct assessment of the alignment of forces in the political process. The analysis of the alignment of political forces in the process should not, however, be limited only to the characteristics of the political parties or movements themselves. They themselves are in many ways only a reflection of deeper phenomena observed in society. Ultimately, the general appearance and direction of the changes that occur depend on which social stratum is at the center of events, which group or class of society objectively dominates them. Thirdly, it is important to take into account the peculiarities of external influence on the course of events in the political process. If we are talking about the process of political development on a societal scale, then it is appropriate to talk about the peculiarities of the international situation. However, in all cases, the living connections of the process under study with the political environment should not be disrupted.

The main characteristics of the political process can be classified as external and internal. The first will include temporal characteristics (i.e., the time of emergence and development of political systems, parties, organizations, movements; the degree of constancy or frequency of their functioning; protracted or fleeting nature of existence), as well as spatial ones (central or peripheral; national, national or local; in certain spheres of society or in certain political organizations). Internal characteristics will relate to the quality of communication between participants in the political process (cooperation or confrontation); direction of development of the political process (progressive, regressive); the role of objective conditions and subjective factors; spontaneity or consciousness of occurring events.

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1. The concept of the political process and its structure

2. Stages of the political process

3. Typology of political processes

4. Features of the political process in the Republic of Belarus

1. Often, the political process is simply understood as politics, as opposed to some other sphere of public life. However, this idea provides little insight into the essence of the political process.

In Western political science, there are many approaches to understanding the political process. Let's name the main ones:

· institutionalism(representatives M. Duverger, S. Huntington, etc.) connects the political process with the functioning and transformation of institutions of power;

· behaviorism ( representatives G. Lasswell, J. Catlin, etc.) considers the political process as the behavior and activities of people aimed at gaining and using power for personal and public purposes;

· structural functionalism(representatives G. Almond, T. Parsons, etc.) understands the political process as the result of the cumulative functioning of the entire political system and its individual elements, the transition of the political system from one state to another. The source of changes in the political process are the influences and demands of the social environment. D. Easton, who stood at the origins of systemic methodology in political science, interprets the political process as a set of reactions of the political system to the challenges of its environment in order to form acceptable solutions;

· conflict approach(representatives R. Dahrendorf, K. Boulding, etc.) presents the political process as a process of competition between political subjects on various political issues. The result of this struggle is a change in the balance of power in the political arena, the emergence of new political subjects, etc. R. Dahrendorf, for example, focuses on the dynamics of group rivalry for status and power resources.

Political process- this is the total activity of social subjects (individuals, groups, classes, communities), through which the formation, transformation and functioning of the political system of society occurs. In other words, the political process is a dynamic characteristic of the political system, the combined activities of all political subjects. If the political system is a kind of static concept that covers the state of political life at a given specific moment, then the political process reflects the dynamics of the political system, its internal and external changes, the transition from one state to another. When applied to society as a whole, the political process reveals the interaction of social and political structures and relationships.

The political process has an internal content corresponding to its content structure, which includes the following elements:

1) subject of the process, i.e. bearer of real power;

2) an object that must be created or achieved as a goal of the process;

3) means, resources, methods, methods that the subject uses to achieve the goal.

The resources of the political process can be its material and ideal foundations: technical and financial means, science, knowledge, the mood of the masses (participants in the process), their ideology, public opinion and other factors.

2. The following stand out: stages of the political process:

1) The mode of formation of the political system (constitution). This stage, as a rule, coincides with a turning point in the life of society, when the legitimacy of the power of some political forces is lost and other forces occupy a dominant position. They create a new political system with different political institutions, legal norms (updated or new constitution). The formation of a new political system (constitution) is not a one-time act. Legitimization, i.e. recognition of this system is a long process that smoothly flows into the second stage of the political process.

2) operating mode. Coincides with a stable period of social development. In this case, political processes reflect the reproduction and maintenance of the activities of already existing authorities, political parties, public organizations, and relations between them. Traditions and continuity in the interaction of participants in political processes take precedence over any innovations. In democratic states, the means of such support are elections, and the appointment of government bodies, congresses and conferences of political parties and public organizations, etc. The reproduction of the traditions of the political system itself is carried out by clarifying and updating existing legislation, while preserving previously established traditions.

3) mode development . It comes during a period of certain reshuffling of political forces. There is a partial change in government bodies, reform of the activities of political parties and public institutions in accordance with changes in the social structure of society and the balance of political forces within the country and in the international arena. At the development stage, the formation of a new political elite may be observed, whose interests do not coincide with the given political system. The next stage is coming.

4) stage of decay, decline. It coincides with the rise of new social forces that emphasize other forms of political life. This dynamic of the political is negative in relation to the existing style of power. Destructive tendencies prevail over constructive ones. The previously ruling elite is losing managerial ability, etc. and its legitimacy. Thus, one cycle of the political process ends, while the process itself continues (the seasons, Toinbee’s concept of civilizations). The new cycle begins with the renewal of political leadership, political institutions and the political system as a whole.