The essence of political power lies in. Cheat sheet: Political power essence and features

03.08.2019

VORONEZH INSTITUTE OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Correspondence and Postgraduate Studies

TEST

"The Essence of Political Power"

by discipline

Political science

1. The essence of political power, its characteristics. 3

2. Types of leaders and their functions. 7

Literature. eleven

1. The essence of political power, its characteristics

Power is understood as the ability and opportunity to exercise one’s will, to have a decisive influence on the activities and behavior of people with the help of authority, law, and violence. The concept of power is central to political science. Any power is the right and opportunity to dispose, command, manage. The concentrated expression of power is the relationship of domination and subordination, any forms of interaction between subjects of power relations.

Power represents organized activities people, aimed at coordinating conflicting individual or group interests and will through their subordination to the formed single social or group will. Without power in one form or another - a tribal leader over his fellow tribesmen, a prophet over the followers of his teachings, leaders public organizations over ordinary members, the state and its bodies over citizens, etc. - none of the communities could exist. The term "power" has many different interpretations. In one case, it can denote an individual vested with power, in another - an authority, in a third - the right and opportunity to dispose, limit freedom by imposing will or a force that ensures the subordination of the activities of subordinated persons, etc.

In a general sense, power is understood as a form of social relations, characterized by the ability to influence the nature and direction of the activities and behavior of people, social groups and classes through economic, ideological and legal mechanisms, as well as through authority, tradition, and violence.

Power is:

the ability or potential ability of people to make decisions that influence the actions of other people, to significantly influence the development of society using various means - authority, will, law, coercion, as well as resources;

a mechanism for implementing decisions made by a person or group of people and requiring interaction with other people or groups of people, a tool for coordinating the activities of people in society;

the productive or transformative capacity of social structures that exists independently of individual factors;

system of authorities;

persons vested with relevant state and administrative powers;

knowledge-power and communication power are complex factors of power, especially in the information age.

Power develops and exists in different areas human life, manifests itself in various forms. It is classified according to the sources of subordination or the relationship of the social object to the subject (force, coercion, motivation, persuasion, manipulation, authority, cooperation).

Based on the nature of its application, power is distinguished as democratic, authoritarian, totalitarian, despotic, bureaucratic, etc.

Based on the object of power, we can distinguish such varieties as personal, party, public, etc. Power can be individual and collective, explicit and implicit.

In terms of its scope, it acts as a family, national, international, etc.

According to the sphere of manifestation, power is divided into political and non-political (moral authority, economic or information dominance, physical violence, etc.)

The main types of power: political, economic, military. spiritual, family. Political power occupies a special place in this hierarchy. It is characterized by the real possibility of the subject to carry out his will, expressed in politics. The concept of “political power” is broader than the concept of “state power”. Political activity is carried out not only within the state, but also within the framework of parties, trade unions, international public organizations, ethno-national relations, etc.

Political power is a system of institutionally secured social political relations, formed on the basis of the real dominance of one or another group in its use of state prerogatives for the distribution of various public resources taking into account your interests. Political power is characterized by the real ability of the subject to carry out his will, expressed in politics.

Authority includes directive, functional and communicative aspects.

The directive component, i.e. power as coercion to fulfill the will of the orderer, as a rule, is considered basic. Directive management represents the distribution of resources of violence and the rights to use them.

The functional dimension of power lies in its understanding as the ability and ability to implement a function public administration in practice - to support and develop the political system, formulate goals and programs for its activities, and exercise appropriate control. The development of power functionalism leads to the delimitation of powers and specialization of power.

The communicative aspect of power is due to the fact that its administration occurs through communication using a normative language that is understandable to both sides of a given social relationship. In the communicative understanding of power, the emphasis is often on cooperation and coordination of actions.

Modern concepts of power can be classified on a number of grounds. Conceptual approaches to the interpretation of political power, with a certain degree of convention, can be divided into two main classes. Firstly, these are attributive-substantial theories of power, which interpret power as an attribute, a qualitative property of the influence of a subject. Secondly, these are relational concepts that describe power as a social relationship or interaction at one or another communicative level.

So, in political science The following areas of understanding and consideration of power are highlighted:

behaviorist (behavioral): power is a special type of people’s behavior, based on the possibility of changing their behavior by other subjects;

instrumentalist, influencing: power - the ability to use certain means, in particular violence;

structuralist: power is a special kind of relationship between managers and managed, a hierarchical section;

functionalist: power - the ability to mobilize the resources of society to achieve goals recognized by society;

conflictual: power - the ability to make subjective decisions regulating the distribution of goods in conflict situations;

teleological: power is the achievement of certain goals associated with myths about power;

communicative: power is a phenomenon determined by the nature and direction of communication flows, the activities of the media and communications.

The source of power lies in existing social relations, the structure of which has a decisive impact on the essence and nature of power, on the functioning of the system social management both in society as a whole and in its constituent communities.

2. Types of leaders and their functions

Leadership - leadership, leadership, initiative, leading, leading position of an individual, social group, class, party, state, nation, civilization, due to more effective results of their activities and impact on the development of society as a whole or its various components and spheres (economic, scientific, social).2) processes of internal self-organization of a social group, determined by the individual initiative of its members;

3) abilities, qualities and behavior associated with the role of group leader, which can be assigned to individuals on the basis of personal qualities and experience or through tradition and position.

The complex socio-political and psychological nature of leadership makes it possible to classify this phenomenon on various grounds. Thus, the typology proposed by M. Weber, which is based on the classification of the authority of persons exercising power, still remains relevant. Understanding leadership as the ability to “give orders” and “induce obedience,” Weber differentiated it into the following types.

Traditional leadership based on faith and adherence to customs and traditions (the power and functions of tribal leaders, shamans, sorcerers; monarchical power).

Charismatic leadership, based on the belief in the outstanding, near-supernatural abilities of a leader, leader, prophet. It is characterized, in particular, by the following model: “It was said..., but I tell you...”.

Legal leadership based on faith in the legality and legitimacy of the existing political system, government system. In by [the leader-official, the leader-bureaucrat, the leader-functionary acts not as an individual from whom power and influence personally comes, but as a certain agent state function, a conductor of the ideas of the existing legal order.

In a collective study of American political scientists, “Political Psychology,” edited by Professor M. J. Hermani, four role types of leadership are identified: “leader-chief,” “leader-travelling salesman,” “leader-puppet,” and leader-firefighter.”

The “leader-chief” defines goals and indicates to his supporters the direction of their activities, makes promises to them and carries them along. He perceives him as a recognized leader. These political leaders have their own vision of reality. They have a dream, for the sake of which they often strive to change the political system. To understand this form political leadership it is necessary to know the personal qualities of a person who leads his followers in moving towards their goal.

A "travelling leader" is attentive to people's needs and tries to help meet them. Being sensitive to people's needs and desires is just as important as being able to convince them that you can help. Political leaders of this type in their practice are guided by the expectations, wishes, and needs of their voters.

The “puppet leader” largely depends on his environment or the circles that promoted him. He is an agent of the group, reflecting its goals and working on its behalf. To understand how to in this case leadership role, it is necessary to examine the expectations and goals of supporters. The ability to persuade is important for a sales leader. Thanks to her, people “buy” his plans or ideas and get involved in their implementation. Emphasis is placed on the abilities of the political leader himself and the strategy he resorts to to achieve support for his policies and their implementation.

The “firefighter leader” responds promptly and effectively to the challenges presented by circumstances. His actions are largely determined by the pressing demands of the moment. By studying the surrounding reality in which the phenomenon of such political leadership arises, one can better understand its nature.

Of course, in real life Most political leaders use all four of these images, in different orders and combinations, bringing their own interests in accordance with the interests of their environment and building relationships with them in such a way as to take into account the peculiarities of each specific moment. More effective political leaders build coalitions that support them in exchange for meeting their constituents' most pressing demands.

The following principles for studying and typologizing leadership can be distinguished:

based on the principle of historicism, one should distinguish between types of leaders depending on the era in which they act; a leader, like any person, is a product of the social environment, and the type of leadership depends on the nature of the era;

The basis for classification can be the “scale” of leadership, the level of tasks being solved - world leaders, civilizations, national leaders, leaders of a certain class, leaders of certain social groups;

It is advisable to distinguish leaders depending on what class they represent, what place this class plays in the system of social production, social relations, what its role is in the historical process (moreover, class interest must be considered in dialectical interaction with universal human interests);

Leaders can be classified according to their attitude to the existing social system - the leader is “functional” in relation to this system, contributes to its functioning or “dysfunctional”, seeks to destroy it; a conformist leader who accepts the norms and values prevailing in society, or a non-conformist who seeks them change;

There are leaders with extraordinary abilities and leaders with ordinary personal characteristics who emerge due to circumstances;

The leader may be temporary or permanent;

Leaders and initiators differ social movement(inspirers, “programmers”);

The basis for the classification may be the leadership style - an authoritarian leader, focused on individual decision-making, or a democratic leader, focused on initiating the activity and initiative of his followers, involving them in the management process.

Literature

1) Irkhin Yu.V. "Political Science", publishing house "Exam", Moscow 2006

2) Zerkin D.P. "Fundamentals of Political Science" // Ed. "Phoenix", R. - N. D., 1996

3) Mukhaev R.T. "Fundamentals of Political Science" // Ed. " New school", Moscow, 1996

4) Moscow State University named after. M.V. Lomonosov "Fundamentals of Political Science. Brief dictionary" // Publishing house of the Knowledge Society, Moscow, 1993

The essence of political power

Political power is a special social institution that organizes social life. attitudes and behavior of the individual. P.V. - determining influence on the behavior of masses, groups, organizations with the help of means available to the state. In contrast to the moral and family authority of P.V. has not a personal, direct, but a socially mediated character. P.V. manifests itself in general decisions and decisions for everyone in the functioning of institutions (president, government, parliament, court). In contrast to the legal authority that regulates relations between specific subjects, P.V. mobilizes large masses of people to achieve goals, regulates relations between groups during stability and general agreement.

The will to power of some is complemented by the need of others to join the powerful will, identify themselves with it, and submit to it.

The main components of power are: its subject, object. resources (resources) and process, setting in motion all its elements and characterized by fur and ways of interaction between subject and object. Subject of power embodies its active, directing principle. It can be an individual, an organization, a community of people, for example, a nation, or even the world community united in the UN.

Subjects of political power have a complex, multi-level character: its primary subjects are individuals, its secondary subjects are political organizations, the subjects of the most high level directly representing various social groups and the entire people in power relations, - political elites and leaders. The connection between these levels may be disrupted. So, for example, leaders often separate themselves from the masses and even from the parties that brought them to power.

The subject is determined by the content of the power relationship through an order (instruction, command). The order prescribes the behavior of the object of power, indicates (or implies) the sanctions that entail the implementation or non-compliance of the order. The attitude of the object, the executors - the second most important element of power - largely depends on the order and the nature of the requirements contained in it.

Object of power. Power is always a two-way, asymmetrical interaction between its subject and object, with the dominance of the will of the ruler. It is impossible without the subordination of the object. If there is no such subordination, then there is no power, despite the fact that the subject striving for it has a clearly expressed will to rule and even powerful means of coercion. Ultimately, the object of the powerful will always has, albeit an extreme, but still a choice - to die, but not to submit, which found, in particular, its expression in the freedom-loving slogan “it is better to die fighting than to live on your knees.”

The scale of the relationship between the object and the subject of power extends from fierce resistance, the struggle for destruction to voluntary, joyfully accepted obedience. The qualities of an object of political power are determined primarily by the political culture of the population.

Concept of power resources. The most important social reason for the subordination of some people to others is the uneven distribution of power resources. Broadly speaking, power resources are “anything that an individual or group can use to influence others.” That. resources of power are all those means, the use of which ensures influence on the object of power in accordance with the goals of the subject. Resources represent either values that are important for an object (money, consumer goods, etc.), or resources that can influence the inner world, human motivation (television, press, etc.), or tools (tools) with the help of which one can deprive a person of certain values, the highest of which is usually considered to be life (weapons, punitive authorities in general).

Resources, along with subject and object, are one of the most important bases of power. They can be used to reward, punish or persuade.

Structural foundations P.V. - laws, court, government. apparatus, coercive units, party discipline, leader's authority, central and regional structures. Guided by the anthropological principle, these types of foundations are distinguished by P.V. like fear, interest, belief.

Types of power. The features of various elements of power - subject, object, resources - can be used as the basis for its typologies. One of the most meaningful classifications of power is its division in accordance with the resources on which it is based: economic, social, spiritual-informational, coercive (which is often called political in the narrow sense of the word, although this is not entirely accurate) and political in the broad sense. , in the proper meaning of the word.

Depending on the subjects, power is divided into state, party, trade union, army, family, etc. According to the breadth of distribution, the mega level is distinguished - international. org-tions, N: UN, NATO, etc.; macro level - central government agencies; meso level - organizations subordinate to the center (regional, district, etc.) and micro level - power in primary organizations and small groups. It is possible to classify power according to the functions of its bodies: for example, legislative, executive and judicial powers of the state; according to the methods of interaction between the subject and the object of power - democratic, authoritarian, etc. authorities.

Interaction between political and other authorities.

Political power is characterized by a number of distinctive features:

legality in the use of force within the state;

supremacy, the obligation of decisions for any other power. P.V. can limit the influence of powerful corporations, media and other institutions or completely eliminate them;

publicity, i.e. universality and impersonality. This means that political power, in contrast to private, personal power, which exists in small groups, on behalf of the entire society, addresses all citizens with the help of law;

monocentricity, the presence of a single decision-making center. In contrast to political power, eccentric, social and spiritual-informational power are polycentric. In a market democratic society, as is known, there are many independent owners, social funds, etc.;

variety of resources. P.V., and especially the state, uses not only coercion, but also electronic, social and cultural-information resources.

The merger of political, economic, social and spiritual-information authorities with the commanding role of politics is observed in totalitarian states. A democratic system presupposes the division of both these powers themselves and each of them: in the ek-ka - the presence of many competing centers of influence, in politics - the division of power between the state, parties and interest groups, as well as the state power itself on legislative, executive and judicial, in the spiritual sphere - accessibility of education, cultural and informational pluralism.

VORONEZH INSTITUTE OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Correspondence and Postgraduate Studies

TEST

"The Essence of Political Power"

by discipline

Political science

1. The essence of political power, its characteristics. 3

2. Types of leaders and their functions. 7

Literature. eleven

1. The essence of political power, its characteristics

Power represents the organized activity of people aimed at coordinating conflicting individual or group interests and will through their subordination to the formed single social or group will. Without power in one form or another - a tribal leader over his fellow tribesmen, a prophet over the followers of his teachings, leaders of public organizations over ordinary members, the state and its bodies over citizens, etc. - none of the communities could exist. The term "power" has many different interpretations. In one case, it can denote an individual vested with power, in another - an authority, in a third - the right and opportunity to dispose, limit freedom by imposing will or a force that ensures the subordination of the activities of subordinated persons, etc.

IN in a general sense power is understood as a form of social relations, characterized by the ability to influence the nature and direction of the activities and behavior of people, social groups and classes through economic, ideological and organized legal mechanisms, as well as through authority, tradition, and violence.

Power is:

the productive or transformative capacity of social structures that exists independently of individual factors;

system of authorities;

persons vested with relevant state and administrative powers;

knowledge-power and communication power are complex factors of power, especially in the information age.

Power develops and exists in various areas of human life and manifests itself in various forms. It is classified according to the sources of subordination or the relationship of the social object to the subject (force, coercion, motivation, persuasion, manipulation, authority, cooperation).

Based on the nature of its application, power is distinguished as democratic, authoritarian, totalitarian, despotic, bureaucratic, etc.

Based on the object of power, we can distinguish such varieties as personal, party, public, etc. Power can be individual and collective, explicit and implicit.

In terms of its scope, it acts as a family, national, international, etc.

According to the sphere of manifestation, power is divided into political and non-political (moral authority, economic or information dominance, physical violence, etc.)

Political power is a system of institutionalized socio-political relations that have developed on the basis of the real dominance of one or another group in its use of state prerogatives for the distribution of various public resources, taking into account its interests. Political power is characterized by the real ability of the subject to carry out his will, expressed in politics.

Authority includes directive, functional and communicative aspects.

The functional dimension of power lies in its understanding as the ability and ability to implement the function of public management in practice - to support and develop the political system, formulate goals and programs for its activities, and exercise appropriate control. The development of power functionalism leads to the delimitation of powers and specialization of power.

Modern concepts authorities can be classified on a number of grounds. Conceptual approaches to the interpretation of political power, with a certain degree of convention, can be divided into two main classes. Firstly, these are attributive-substantial theories of power, which interpret power as an attribute, a qualitative property of the influence of a subject. Secondly, these are relational concepts that describe power as a social relationship or interaction at one or another communicative level.

So, in political science the following areas of understanding and consideration of power are distinguished:

behaviorist (behavioral): power is a special type of people’s behavior, based on the possibility of changing their behavior by other subjects;

instrumentalist, influencing: power - the ability to use certain means, in particular violence;

structuralist: power is a special kind of relationship between managers and managed, a hierarchical section;

functionalist: power - the ability to mobilize the resources of society to achieve goals recognized by society;

conflict: power - the ability to make subjective decisions regulating the distribution of goods in conflict situations;

teleological: power is the achievement of certain goals associated with myths about power;

communicative: power is a phenomenon determined by the nature and direction of communication flows, the activities of the media and communications.

The source of power lies in existing social relations, the structure of which has a decisive impact on the essence and nature of power, on the functioning of the social management system both in society as a whole and in its constituent communities.

2. Types of leaders and their functions

Traditional leadership based on faith and adherence to customs and traditions (the power and functions of tribal leaders, shamans, sorcerers; monarchical power).

Legal leadership based on faith in the legality and legitimacy of the existing political system and government system. In by [the leader-official, the leader-bureaucrat, the leader-functionary acts not as an individual from whom power and influence personally comes, but as an agent of a certain state function, a conductor of the ideas of the existing legal order.

The “leader-chief” defines goals and indicates to his supporters the direction of their activities, makes promises to them and carries them along. He perceives him as a recognized leader. These political leaders have their own vision of reality. They have a dream, for the sake of which they often strive to change the political system. To understand this form of political leadership, it is necessary to know the personal qualities of the person who leads his followers in moving towards their goal.

The “puppet leader” largely depends on his environment or the circles that promoted him. He is an agent of the group, reflecting its goals and working on its behalf. To understand how the leadership role is exercised in this case, it is necessary to examine the expectations and goals of supporters. The ability to persuade is important for a sales leader. Thanks to her, people “buy” his plans or ideas and get involved in their implementation. Emphasis is placed on the abilities of the political leader himself and the strategy he resorts to to achieve support for his policies and their implementation.

Of course, in real life, most political leaders use all four of these images, in different orders and combinations, bringing their own interests in accordance with the interests of their environment and building relationships with them in such a way as to take into account the characteristics of each specific moment. More effective political leaders build coalitions that support them in exchange for meeting their constituents' most pressing demands.

The following principles for studying and typologizing leadership can be distinguished:

There are leaders with extraordinary abilities and leaders with ordinary personal characteristics who emerge due to circumstances;

The leader may be temporary or permanent;

There are different leaders - initiators of a social movement (inspirers, “programmers”);

Literature

1) Irkhin Yu.V. "Political Science", publishing house "Exam", Moscow 2006

2) Zerkin D.P. "Fundamentals of Political Science" // Ed. "Phoenix", R. - N. D., 1996

3) Mukhaev R.T. "Fundamentals of Political Science" // Ed. "New School", Moscow, 1996

4) Moscow State University named after. M.V. Lomonosov "Fundamentals of Political Science. A Brief Dictionary" // Ed. Society "Knowledge", Moscow, 1993

Features: 1. The essential feature of political power is its reliance on the state, which allows it to legally use force within the territory of this state. But at the same time, political power is by no means reduced to the use or threat of use of force. Violence and physical coercion in general can also be used by non-political structures (family, criminal groups etc...

And perhaps even a “supranational” (post-state) form of power organization and communication between people. I will dwell in more detail only on the official structure of political power, which is the institutional system of bodies modern state. 1.2. The state as an instrument of power. Central to the institutional...

Social relations, a mechanism of total social communication, when everyone is connected with everyone, as a kind of way of human self-organization and the principle of collective self-regulation. Legitimacy of political power Power is extremely necessary to achieve goals, because public policy is unlikely to be effective unless the rules established to implement it are followed...

Introduction

Power is one of the fundamental principles of society and politics. It exists wherever there are stable associations of people: be it in a family, various kinds of organizations and institutions, or in the entire state - in this case we are dealing with the supreme, political power. The definition of the concept of power, its essence and character has vital importance to understand the nature of politics and the state, it allows us to isolate politics and political relations from the entire sum of social relations.

Power appeared with the emergence of human society and will always accompany its development in one form or another. Power is necessary, first of all, for the reproduction of the human race. The family-tribal form of power was observed among the nomadic peoples of Russia. With the development of settled life, tribal power was gradually established. The formation of territorial power is due to the need to organize social production, which is unthinkable without the subordination of all participants to a single will, as well as the need to regulate social relations between people. With the advent of classes and the state, blood and family ties were destroyed, the moral authority of the elders of the clan was replaced by the authority of public authority, which separated from society and stood above it.

The concept of power is one of the central ones in political science. It provides the key to understanding political institutions, political movements and politics itself. The paradox of political power, capable of turning into both expedient force and evil will for a person, has always occupied the minds of philosophers and writers. Power is necessary, Aristotle emphasized, first of all, for the organization of society, which is unthinkable without the subordination of all participants to a single will, to maintain its integrity and unity.

The essence of political power

Defining the concept of power, its essence and character is of utmost importance for understanding the nature of politics and the state, it allows us to distinguish politics and political relations from the entire sum of social relations.

There are various definitions of power in the scientific literature, which reflects the complexity and multifaceted nature of this phenomenon. The following can be distinguished the most important aspects interpretations of power.

Teleological (from the point of view of purpose) definitions characterize power as the ability to achieve set goals and obtain intended results. Teleological definitions interpret power quite broadly, extending it not only to relationships between people, but also to human interaction with the outside world - in this sense, for example, they talk about power over nature.

Behaviorist interpretations view power as a special type of behavior in which some people command and others obey. This approach individualizes the understanding of power, reduces it to the interaction of real individuals, paying special attention to the subjective motivation of power. According to the typical behaviorist interpretation proposed by G. Lasswell, a person sees in power a means of improving life: acquiring wealth, prestige, freedom, etc. At the same time, power is also an end in itself, allowing you to enjoy its possession.

Psychological interpretations of power try to reveal the subjective motivation of this behavior, the origins of power, rooted in the minds of people. One of the most prominent areas of this kind is psychoanalysis. Various psychoanalysts differ in their explanations of the causes of psychological submission. Some (S. Moscovici, B. Edelman) see them in a kind of hypnotic suggestion that exists in the relationship between the leader and the crowd, while others (J. Lacan) see them in the special receptivity of the human subconscious to symbols expressed in language. In general, the psychological approach helps to identify the mechanisms of motivation for power as a relationship: command - submission.

The systemic approach comes from the derivative of power not from individual relationships, but from social system, considers power as “the ability to ensure the execution of its elements accepted obligations”, aimed at realizing its collective goals. Some representatives of the systems approach (K. Deutsch, N. Luhmann) interpret power as a means of social communication (communication), which makes it possible to regulate group conflicts and ensure the integration of society. The systemic nature of power determines its relativity, i.e. prevalence on certain systems.

Structural-functionalist interpretations of power consider it as a property of social organization, as a way of self-organization of the human community, based on the expediency of separating the functions of management and execution. Power is a property of social statuses and roles that allows you to control resources and means of influence. In other words, power is related to occupation leadership positions allowing to influence people through positive and negative sanctions, rewards and punishment.

Relationist definitions view power as a relationship between two partners, agents, one of whom has a determining influence on the other. In this case, power appears as an interaction between its subject and object, in which the subject controls the object using certain means.

The concept of “power” in everyday life and in scientific literature is used in a variety of senses. Some believe that power means the real ability of one of the elements existing system to realize one’s own interests within its framework, and in this sense, power is the exercise of influence on the processes occurring within the system. Others consider power to be results, the product of some purposeful influence. Still others believe that power represents such mutual relations between people or groups of people, the essence of which is influence, influence, that is the desire to achieve balance.

Power is not necessarily the result of violence alone, the suppression of one personality by another. It has been noticed, for example, that in the complex nature of man there is an undoubted search for power over himself, to which he could submit. This is a kind of need for the influence of one person on another, a force that connects people into society.

Based on the above, we can give the following definition of power. Power in the general sense is the ability and opportunity to exert a certain influence on the activities and behavior of people using any means - will, authority, law.

From here you can do next output: power is one of the most important types of social interaction, a specific relationship between at least two subjects, one of which is subject to the orders of the other, as a result of this subordination the ruling subject realizes his will and interests.

One of the most common ideas about power is understanding it as coercion. According to M. Baitin, power, regardless of the forms of its external manifestation, is, in essence, always coercive, because one way or another, it is aimed at subordinating the will of the members of a given collective, the dominant or leading single will in it. It would be absurd to deny that power is manifested in the process of subordination, coercion of the will of any subject. At the same time, I believe that it would be wrong to reduce the essence of power relations only to violence and coercion.

Political power, as we know, did not always exist. In primitive societies, i.e. in societies that are not socially structured, general power is not yet of a political nature, since there are no problems that give rise to politics - problems of achieving agreement. Political power arises in a society where people are divided by different interests and unequal status. In primitive society, power is limited to tribal ties.

Political power is determined by spatial, territorial boundaries. Political power ensures order based on the affiliation of a person or group to a given territory, social category, commitment to the idea. With non-political power there are no strict distinctions between those who govern and those who are governed. Political power is always exercised by a minority, an elite. Political power arises on the basis of the combination of the process of concentration of the will of the multitude and the functioning of structures (institutions, organizations, institutions), the relationship of two components: people who concentrate power in themselves, and organizations through which power is concentrated and implemented.

Political science is interested in political power, which is the core of the political system of society, its organizational and regulatory control principle. It determines all other institutions and relationships in the system of society itself. Directly or indirectly, political power influences the development of all other social systems - economic, social, spiritual, etc. The general above definition of power as such, as a broad concept that has numerous forms of manifestation, is, of course, applicable to the concept of “Political power”.

Political power– this is special public attitude, which is manifested in the ability of a subject of power to effectively influence people and society, resorting to various means - from persuasion to coercion. In its essence, power is coercion. However, the ability to coerce others does not exclude the presence of consent, accession, participation of persons within a certain social relations. Depending on the means on which the ability to effectively influence people and things relies, power appears in various forms.

Gaining power and using it is one of the main aspects political life society. This is, in essence, the struggle of political subjects for possession of an instrument for exercising their will, realizing their interests and goals. Political forces coming to power form its specific materialized structures of various scales, political institutions authorities who themselves develop and implement their own policies, which become a means of this power. Thus, politics turns out to be the reason for the emergence and functioning of power, and power is the reason for the existence of politics, i.e. power and politics are tightly linked by a circular cause-and-effect relationship.

Political power has a number of distinctive features, which concretize and deepen ideas about her as a social phenomenon:

– political power is political domination in society of a class, socio-political group, political party or individual (for example, a dictator), realized through the system of government authorities of the state, which is a means of implementation political will subject of power in all spheres public life;

– it is the most important factor in regulating political and social processes in the interests of certain social strata or the entire society, implying the legal use of coercive resources and social violence;

– it is directly related to the ideological regulation and organization of the life of society and the state. The struggle for power and for its retention inevitably results in a struggle of ideologies. Political power itself can completely merge with the ideology it supports and relies on;

– political power, in contrast to private personal power, which exists in small groups, is universal and impersonal in nature. This means that it acts on behalf of the entire society, extends its authority and control to the entire population of the country;

– it is monocentric, i.e. It has one-stop center decision making. Other varieties public authority(for example, economic, social, spiritual-informational) - polycentric. In a market democratic society, as is known, there are many independent owners, media, social funds that have their own direct power;

– in the process of its functioning, political power is characterized by an exceptional variety of resources used, it applies not only measures of coercion and persuasion, but also relies on moral norms, on the interests and traditions of people, their feelings, on numerous economic, social, cultural and information resources.

The type of political regime in society, the openness or closedness of society, the nature of political relations, and others largely depend on the functioning of political power. political characteristics of a given state, including stability, authority, separation and cooperation of powers, the role of the opposition, democracy.

Thus, to the most important, socially significant functions political power includes the following:

– maintaining public order and stability;

– identification, limitation and resolution of conflicts;

– achieving public consent;

– coercion in the name of socially significant goals and maintaining stability;

– management of company affairs;

– formation of the political system of society;

– development of a strategy for managing the company;

– control of political and other relations and the creation, ultimately, of a certain type of government, political regime and political system;

– provision legal rights citizens, their constitutional freedoms.

It is necessary to consider the issue of the effectiveness of government, that is, the issue associated with the costs of achieving the result planned by the government: what means and to what extent must be used to achieve the set political goal.

The principles of the effective functioning of political power include: legitimacy, legality, effectiveness, reality, foresight, collegiality, tolerance, self-criticism, firmness, secrecy, continuity.

One of the most important principles of the effective functioning of political power is legitimacy– positive assessment, acceptance by the population of power, recognition of its right to govern and agreement to obey this power . That is, the legality and recognition of political power are indicators of its legitimacy. At the same time, “legitimacy” is a relatively stable indicator, but the “recognition” of political power by the people is extremely variable and can vary during the period in which a political subject is in power, from full support at the beginning of his activity, to the manifestation of popular distrust at the end of the term of power.

Legitimate power is usually characterized as lawful and fair. Legitimacy is associated with the belief of the vast majority of the population that the existing order is the best for a given country.

Max Weber identified three types of legitimacy based on the methods of achieving legitimacy and reflecting the motives of submission:

traditional legitimacy, built on the authority of morals and customs;

legal or rational-legal legitimacy, distinguished by its understanding of the need to fulfill their duties by all “civil servants” - from ordinary people to those in power;

charismatic legitimacy(charisma, from the Greek “charisma” - mercy, grace, gift of God) - special, exceptional talent, endowment statesman(political leader) with such qualities (wisdom, infallibility, prophecy, holiness, as well as fearlessness, courage, etc.) that sharply distinguish him not only from the general mass of people, but also from the political elite.

Max Weber calls these types of legitimacy “ideal types,” knowing full well that they are rare in real political life. In most cases, political power comes in various combinations ideal types, transitions from one to another.

Researchers have identified several sources of legitimacy:

1. Citizen participation in governance.

2. Legitimacy through economic, military, educational, etc. activities of power (technocratic legitimacy).

3. Legitimacy through coercion. It should be noted that the stronger the coercion, the lower the level of legitimacy.

The terms “legality” and “legitimacy” have common root, which comes from the Latin word "leg", meaning "law". Apparently, this is why these concepts are often considered identical. In fact, the concepts of “legality” and “legitimacy” are far from identical, although under certain conditions they may coincide.

The legitimacy of power shows its actual significance for people, the degree of its prestige, its “empirical” legitimacy, but not thanks to the law emanating from power, but thanks to the law of human disposition. Legitimacy is not a once and for all given characteristic of political power. If the government ceases to be effective and does not ensure the stability of society, it loses the trust and support of its people.

The issue of attitude towards political power also remains important for modern society. In order to stabilize power in society, to make it capable of performing the functions assigned to it, it must be institutionalized, secured in one form or another of political domination.

Domination is a political order in which some command and others obey, although the former may be under the democratic control of the latter. Such an order may correspond to the interests not only of the controlled minority, but also of the entire society, or at least its majority.

The process of political domination, i.e. rule, is ordered and regulated with the help of a special mechanism of power– systems of institutions, institutes, organizations and norms of their structure and activities. In relation to such a complex social object as a society mechanism of political power its four most important links are: the system political parties, parliament, government, apparatus of political coercion.

The central role in the mechanism of functioning of power in society is played by the highest institutions of state power - the president, parliament, government, court and prosecutor's office. They are the main link in making and implementing decisions. The degree of centralization of power and the distribution of powers between other government structures depend on their activities.

The mechanism of power, expressed in certain type political power (totalitarian, authoritarian, democratic), operates in every society, in all its spheres, at all levels of it social structure and has its own specific forms of manifestation, ways and methods of power. Moreover, different shapes manifestations of the mechanism of power relations and give, mainly, distinctive features this or that society, its political, economic, social and spiritual relations.

In a totalitarian society The mechanism of political power is based on a system of violent political domination, characterized by the complete subordination of society, its economic, political, social, spiritual and even everyday life, to the power of the ruling elite, organized into an integral military-bureaucratic apparatus and headed by political leader, leader.

Fear and blind faith are the main resources of the mechanism of totalitarian control of society. In general, the relations of totalitarian power and its mechanism are built on the principle: “Everything is prohibited except what is ordered.”

Authoritarian political power in terms of its characteristic features, characteristics and mechanism of functioning, it occupies an intermediate position between totalitarian and democratic authorities. What it has in common with totalitarian power is, first of all, dictatorial, not limited by laws the nature of power, with a democratic one - the presence of autonomous, unregulated authorities public spheres, for example, economics and privacy people, preservation of certain elements of civil society.

In its essence, authoritarian power is the unlimited power of one person or group of persons, characterized by excessive centralism in management, reliance on force, intolerance to political opposition, but allowing the autonomy of the individual and society in non-political spheres of their life.

The functioning mechanism of authoritarian power is based (potentially and actually) on force. The authorities may not resort to mass repression and may not even be popular among wide circles of the country's population, but they have sufficient power to force the population into obedience if necessary, and usually do not hide this. The relationship of this government with society is built on the principle: “Everything is allowed except politics.”

Democratic power- This is one of the main types of political power. It embodies the ideas of self-government and participation (participation) - mainly at the local level and in production, representation - on the scale of the entire society. This is essentially a representative democratic government based on liberal values and the principle of pluralism. In reality, it exists in its two main forms: in the form of parliamentarism - a system of government based on the supremacy of the power of parliament delegated to it by the people; in the shape of presidential rule, wherein supreme power belongs to the president of the country, elected by popular vote, parliament or some special institution.

The basis of the functioning mechanism democratic power lies the principle of its division into legislative, executive and judicial. Relations between the people and their representatives in government structures are built on the basis of trust, control, constitutional restrictions on the competence of government bodies and officials and their complete independence within the limits of the law. The basic principle democratic society: “Everything that is not prohibited by law is permitted.”

Political and state power are very closely related to each other. Political power comes from the state and is realized in real life only with its direct or indirect participation. At the same time, the concept of political power is broader than the concept of state power, since political activity is carried out not only within the state, but also in others components political system of society: within the framework of political parties, public organizations, etc.

Government is a special type of political power. This is a socially organized power that has a monopoly right to make laws binding on the entire population and relies on a special coercive apparatus as one of the means for complying with laws and orders .

State power is a form of political power, its core, characterized by a real opportunity and ability to influence the nature of the activities and behavior of all citizens of the state in order to manage social processes, ensure organization and order in society.

An integral feature of state power is a monopoly on the legal use of force and physical coercion. The range of actions of state power extends from restriction of freedom to the physical destruction of a person who has committed a serious crime against society. The ability to deprive citizens of the highest values, which are life and freedom, determines the special effectiveness of state power. To perform the function of coercion, the state government has special means (bodies): army, militia (police), security service, court, prosecutor's office, etc.

State power has the following features:

– acts as a force that concentratedly expresses and symbolizes society as a whole;

– has a monopoly on the legal use of force, physical coercion using the apparatus of violence;

– has a special apparatus for managing the entire society;

– has the exclusive right to standardize the life of the entire society, the right to issue laws and norms binding on the entire population, the right to levy taxes and various types of fees.

Using state coercion, the ruling subject imposes his will on the ruled. In this way, state power differs, in particular, from authority, which also subordinates, but does not need state coercion.

State coercion- this is the psychological, material or physical (violent) influence of authorized bodies and state officials on an individual in order to force (force) him to act according to the will of the ruling entity, in the interests of society and the state.

Functions of government. The functions of government can be classified on various grounds.

For reasons of occurrence functions of state power functions of state power can initially be divided:

on functions arising from class contradictions(suppression of resistance of exploited classes, etc.);

to functions arising from the needs of society as a whole(“functions of general affairs” - economic, environmental, etc.).

Based on their focus, the functions of state power are divided into internal and external:

– internal functions – the main directions of activity of public authorities for management inner life society;

– external functions – the main directions of activity of public authorities in the international arena.

Internal functions of state power:

1. Legal function – ensuring law and order, establishing legal norms, protecting the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

2. Political function– ensuring political stability, developing program-strategic goals and objectives for the development of society.

3. Organizational function - streamlining all government activities, monitoring the implementation of laws, coordinating the activities of all subjects of the political system.

4. Economic function - organization, coordination and regulation economic processes with the help of tax and credit policy, planning, creating incentives for economic activity, implementing sanctions.

5. Social function – ensuring cooperation different layers society, implementation of the principle of social justice, protection of the interests of all categories of citizens, support housing construction, healthcare, public transport systems.

6. Ecological function – ensuring a healthy living environment, establishing a regime for environmental management.

7. Cultural function – satisfying cultural needs, developing high spirituality, guaranteeing an open information space.

8. Educational function – ensuring equal access to education.

External functions state power:

1. Providing function national security– ensuring the security of the citizen, state, society, protecting the constitutional order, territorial integrity, state sovereignty.

2. The function of international participation and ensuring peace is to ensure participation in the development of the system international relations, activities to prevent wars, reduce arms, participate in solving global problems.

3. The function of cooperation in economic, political, cultural and other spheres with other states.

The implementation of the above functions of state power contributes to the normal, stable functioning of the entire political system of society.

Any political activity is ultimately connected in one way or another with state power. One can argue about what factors underlay the emergence of a state whose interests are expressed by certain state entities. But it is an axiom that the quintessential result of the political activity of people and their associations is state power. It is the possession of state power that allows political forces achieve your goals.

Control questions

1. Give a general definition of the concept of “power”.

2. What, in your opinion, is the main purpose of power in society?

3. List the main structural elements of power.

4. What are power resources, what is their role in the process of functioning and implementation of power?

5. Define political power and list its distinctive features and functions.

6. How do political power and state power relate to each other?

7. What is the legitimacy of political power? How does it relate to the concept of “legality of power”?

8. What is the difference between the behaviorist interpretation of power and the structural-functional interpretation of power?