Modern Politics Significance

At first glance, modern politics appeared to be quite important in the community. People relied nearly heavily on what was going on in the political world. Political institutions were considered as a place where individuals may find homage away from the social life that surrounded them in this situation. For a long time, people have favored actions over thoughts. The former is what politics originally embraced, whereas the latter is what the political framework identifies with in the modern world. Many thinkers have argued on the importance of modern politics, with many arguing that the sooner people learn that political institutions are guided by some unchangeable structures, the better. the more they’ll get to understand the real truth behind the issue of relevance. In the course of this analysis, it will be established why modern politics is no longer relevant, with theories pertaining to postmodern politics being established. Further still, the idea of politics being measurable will also form part of the discussion.

It is apparent that modern politics is no longer relevant since unlike before when political frameworks used to solve almost all of the societal problems, there are currently other measures in place to tackle such challenges. This alone has made modern politics to lose the relevance it once had. Various ideologies such as liberalism and socialism assume modernity. They have been observed to indicate that modern politics unlike that existent in the past assumes human rationality (Beck, Giddens & Lash, 2014). In this case human ideas are the social construct that establishes political ideologies. Initially, it was discovered that politics in the community functioned in a pluralist mechanism implying that power in was initially centralized. Recently, however, it has been established that power is entirely diffused thus taking a clitist approach in the modern realm (Beetham, 2013).

The political structure was initially structured in such a way that power was shared equally in all levels of the political system. The pluralist approach was such that the human institutions comprised of an ordered system; one that categorically indicates that nothing can be assumed (Ball, 2008). There was a reason behind every political establishment. Thus indicating that, unlike today where assumptions are becoming common there was no room for them in the former political system. In the past, it was not simply a question of who is charge of a particular area but rather if there was anyone in charge; Leading us to our next argument on the significance of politics in the contemporary society. As Karl Marx once indicated it is evident that “Ideas of the ruling class represent the ruling ideas” (Beck, Giddens & Lash, 2014). This mean that individuals strive to be at the highest level of authority, since such power places them in control of the society, as well as enabling them to institute policies that happen to favor them.

The idea behind the relevance of modern politics lies on the elusive nature of power. As Michael Foucault once said, ”Power is everywhere not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere” (Bachrach & Baratz, 2014). Besides, it is observable that in the past, political institutions worked together for a common goal. Due self-centered interests in the modern world, most of the institutions opt to operate independently Bachrach & Baratz, 2014). This alone intimates that politics has lost its significance in the modern society thus making it almost entirely irrelevant. On basis of the pluralist mechanism identified in the aforementioned section, it is evident that power emanates as a result of individuals having a common interest in something (Rattansi, 2012). Coalitions were more common in the past as opposed to the contemporary world. People came together to achieve a common goal.

In the current society, it is more of a matter of individualism and materialism as each political institution strives to outperform the other. Postmodern politics is about disruption whereby past ideologies are detached from the current state of the world`s affairs. It can be based on the assumptions of present realities being assumed such as the invasion by foreign entities in a certain society. One of the forms of postmodern politics is anti-politics; a belief that politics cannot essentially change the society (Newton, 2007). Postmodernists argue that politics exists with a sole aim of establishing a system that can critique existing systems in any society. It is widely acknowledged that majority of institutions only function adequately when under pressure. In this case, disrupting the political framework perceived to be non-conformist to the expectations of individuals happens to be what post-modernism is ideally related to.

It is evident that you require things that are measurable in order to get politics going. In order for the political system to function effectively, the elements surrounding its establishment ought to be quantifiable in nature. This makes it easy to be able to identify any resourceful changes that are bound to positively affect the political system (Beck, Giddens & Lash, 2014). Having a measurable system is one of the common elements in politics that was existent in the past and that which is currently observable in the contemporary society.

The above illustrations are testimony to the fact modern politics is no longer relevant. In the past, political systems were entirely relied on in order to resolve societal problems. Currently, individualism has become a common element in the political domain. Power was also equally distributed among individuals in the society, to an extent that it was difficult to tell which individual was actually in control. It is, however, evident that politics has to consist of measurable elements; otherwise, it would lose its relevance. There is no doubt whatsoever that the political system has changed greatly in the modern world. How effective this will be remains to be a subject of contention.

References

Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M. S. (2014). Two Faces of Power. Power: Critical Concepts, 2, 85.

Ball, A. R. (2008). Modern politics and government. Springer.

Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (2014). Reflexive modernization: Politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order. Stanford University Press.

Beetham, D. (2013). Max Weber and the theory of modern politics. John Wiley & Sons.

Newton, K. (2007). May the weak force be with you: The power of the mass media in modern politics. European Journal of Political Research, 45(2), 209-234.

Rattansi, A. (2012). The German Ideology. In Marx and the Division of Labour (pp. 77-85). Macmillan Education UK.