Every day, streams of information fall on viewers and listeners from TV screens and radios. The lion's share of it is made up of news about political events. The role of this sphere of activity in the life of society is very significant, since politics affects all aspects of the life of the state and its citizens.
What is politics
Politics as a field of activity includes relations that arise between individual states, classes, other social groups, nations and nationalities. At the center of politics are issues that are directly related to the conquest, use and retention of power in the state. The severity of the political struggle at the present stage of the development of society is such that it puts politics in the first row of the most pressing problems solved by civilization.
Politicians and those social forces that stand behind them actively participate in all processes taking place in society, including the economy and culture. Government bodies, implementing the political program of the ruling circles, make and implement decisions that are important for the internal life of the state and for the establishment of relations between countries within the international community.
The main mechanisms of political influence are control over all spheres of society, as well as measures of persuasion and coercion. Legislative bodies and structures responsible for the execution of laws play an important role in the implementation of the political functions of the state. A society striving to preserve its democratic nature has to find a compromise between the subordination of citizens to the requirements of the state and the free expression of their will by opposition groups of the population.
The role of politics in the life of society
As a social phenomenon, politics is designed to fulfill a number of social functions. Through it, community groups express and pursue their core interests. By participating in political events, social movements, parties and other organizations unite to achieve their goals, the main of which is the struggle for power.
Through politics, society achieves integration. By taking part in political actions, citizens get the opportunity to join the resolution of social conflicts. Without the political activity of the masses, any state can turn into an ossified organism, incapable of change. Participation in politics for citizens and social groups is a school of socialization and a way to show their citizenship.
The fundamental basis of politics is the need of society for self-organization and regulation of its activities. Society, being heterogeneous in its composition, is divided into many groups, the interests and motives of actions of which most often do not coincide. The task of politicians and public figures is precisely to reconcile mutually exclusive trends and find reasonable solutions to take into account the urgent needs of all sectors of society.
