In the modern world, it is impossible to imagine a person who is absolutely not interested in politics. It determines the standard of our life and relations with other countries, brings threat and gives a sense of liberation. So what is politics? Games of the highest power or a blessing designed to guide humanity?
What is politics?
The word "politics" itself has an ancient Greek origin and literally means "state activity". Contrary to modern misconceptions, politics is not only the work of state power in the external and internal arena, but also events taking place in public and even in the daily life of various social groups. That is, almost any large-scale phenomenon in human activity is somehow connected with politics.
In ancient Greece, a phenomenon such as "policies" - large and small cities that were engaged in self-government, arose. It was there that politics arose, that is, the management of cities, different communities were engaged in it - from large merchants to small artisans and businessmen. At the same time, the first forms of government appeared: oligarchy, monarchy and democracy.
Later, the forms of government began to rapidly develop and improve, political conglomerates and various ideologies began to appear. Today, there are about 20 different political ideas and systems.
Political Party
In most of the civilized countries of the modern world, the people have the right to choose both government and ideology. Large associations based on the same political views, ideology and social aspects, striving to make their feasible contribution to government, are called political parties. To promote their ideas and further influence society and the state, parties have the right to take part in elections. Each party must have a certain number of supporters and its own program, which reflects the main ideas, motives and, of course, ways of implementation.
Party membership is free and voluntary. The main goal of absolutely any political party is power. Governance of the state or doing work at the local level is in one way or another part of the political life of parties. Despite all claims and promises, parties can behave differently in the political arena, conclude agreements and alliances with sympathetic organizations, oppose the current government, or, on the contrary, coordinate their activities with the ruling party.
Funding for political movements and parties is usually provided by wealthy members or sympathetic businessmen. Some parties have organized voluntary contributions or donations. And in some countries, funding is envisaged for the influential political sector directly from the state budget. So in Russia, parties can count on funding, which will receive more than three percent of the population's support at the next elections. The more seats a party has in the State Duma, the higher the funding.
Party systems
Today, in almost all states there are official party movements. The systems of states have some differences from each other, and this is what actually determines the number and degree of influence of political parties on state affairs.
There is practically no non-partisan system in the modern world. It has survived only in states where an absolute monarchy is still in effect. In such countries, the activities of parties are either completely abolished, or have the form of social movements with little opportunity to influence the policy of the state.
The one-party system has only one active and governing party within it. Power in such states is concentrated in the hands of one party and has the right to make any significant decisions both in domestic and foreign policy, to determine all the key moments of the country's development. Sometimes other sectors are found in such systems, but they have practically no political weight. Their main task is to formally participate in elections, or to recognize the effective activities of the main party, that is, in fact, to support the dominant system of power. The most famous example of a one-party system is the Soviet Union; other political movements and parties were not formally banned in it, but they simply did not exist.
States with one ruling party often focus on democratic views and freedoms of choice and ideology. In such states, there are other, small parties that take part in elections and even have their own seats in government bodies. Small parties take part in the discussion and approval of new laws and initiatives, they also have the right to submit their own initiatives for consideration. Nevertheless, the ruling party has the final say in any decisions. A similar system is widespread in the countries of the former Soviet Union, including the Russian Federation.
A bipartisan system implies the primacy of the two main parties and the creation of competition between them. The solution of state issues and the adoption of laws are carried out on the basis of compromises. For this reason, such an organization of government is called the "system of two ruling parties." Despite the apparent competition, in fact, parties run the state by turns (form a government, nominate presidential candidates, and so on). A similar system could have arisen in Russia, when two parties claimed victory in the elections at once, but later they united into one dominant conglomerate - United Russia.
A multi-party system presupposes within itself a large number of different parties, which can equally or almost equally influence state policy. Such systems are most common in European countries. Formally, the system can be divided into several options: in the first, the parties have no influence on the formation of the government, in the second, which essentially replaced the first, the majority parties form the government independently. In the third option, which is common in Latin American countries, parties do not form the government, but have the opportunity to nominate their candidates for the presidential elections.
In some countries, with two influential parties, there is a third party that can influence the final decision in controversial moments, but does not have the ability to lead the government. This version of the system is well established and quite successfully exists in the UK and Canada.
Political movement
There are also various political movements that are sometimes confused with parties. There are several significant differences between the movement and the party. First, the movement is not registered as a party, does not have its own program, or it does not have enough supporters. Secondly, political movements cannot participate in elections, which means that they have no real opportunity to "take power into their own hands."
The main activities of political movements are aimed either at supporting the current government, or, on the contrary, at harsh criticism. Less often, these movements come up with their own initiatives. The main instruments of their activity are propaganda and agitation - distribution of leaflets, advertising, organization of street meetings. In a word, this is the same social movement, but with participation in the political life of their state
