Introduction
Politics is an integral aspect of every community in the contemporary world. It helps communities to determine the system of governance that suits their needs. Additionally, it helps communities to regulate their governments in order to achieve social, political, and economic objectives.
Generally, engaging in politics involves articulating the governance issues that a country is grappling with (Crick, 2005, pp. 5-11). In this regard, the citizens and their leaders must actively participate in politics. This participation normally occurs through various institutions of politics. The focus of this paper will be the institutions that facilitate politics. In particular, it will answer the question: what sorts of institutions make politics successful?
The answer to this question will be based on the premise that the efficacy of governance and politics depends on the quality of political institutions. The first part of the paper will define political institutions and various concepts of governance. The second part will discuss the roles of the institutions that facilitate politics. This discussion will lead to a conclusion concerning the influence of institutions on the success of politics.
Definition of Key Terms
Institutions of politics refer to the organizations whose roles include, but not limited to creation and implementation of laws; conflict resolution; formulation and implementation of governmental policies; and representation of the public (Hague & Harrop, 2010, pp. 45-67).
The main political institutions include the executive, legislature, bureaucracy, experts, political parties, and various types of regimes (governments). The executive is the organ of the government that has the authority and responsibility of executing the administrative functions of the state. The legislature refers to a deliberative assembly that normally consists of elected members whose constitutional mandate includes making, amending, and repealing a country’s laws.
Concisely, the parliament or the congress is the legislature. Bureaucracy refers to a professional body of skilled officials who serve in the public sector in a non-political capacity. Unlike politicians, bureaucrats are fulltime employees with permanent contracts. Experts are independent intellectuals with vast knowledge in specific fields such as law, political science, and development. These intellectuals are normally the main source of expert opinion.
Political parties refer to organizations whose members have the same political ideologies or objectives, and strive to shape public policy by sponsoring the election of a candidate to a public office. The members of these parties include politicians and their followers or supporters. Finally, government or regime refers to the administrative organization that has been empowered to regulate the public affairs of a country. The aforementioned institutions normally collaborate in order to achieve the socio-political objectives of a country.
The Roles of Political Institutions
Regime Types
There are three main functions of the government. First, the government consolidates the funds that are usually spent on basic needs. In this regard, the government uses the consolidated funds to provide services such as healthcare, education, and security among others. Second, the government collects funds from the public and uses them to provide social insurance services.
These services include unemployment benefits, food aid, and old age pension. Finally, the government formulates and enforces the laws that guide the relationships between individuals and institutions (Hague & Harrop, 2010, pp. 15-22).
The aim of this function is to promote fairness, equity, and harmony in the society. Executing these functions is a political process that heavily depends on the type of regime that is in charge of a country’s public affairs. In a totalitarian regime, the government has absolute authority over the populace. It controls nearly all aspects of public affairs and the private lives of the citizens.
In this regard, a totalitarian regime is a threat to politics because it limits the participation of the public in decision-making. In most cases, a totalitarian regime influences the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the public in order to avert the tensions and dissent that might arise due to government failure. However, this strategy leads to sameness of opinion and infringement of the right to expression, thereby discouraging progressive politics.
In an authoritarian regime, power is concentrated in the hands of the ruling elite. The leaders maintain their authority through political repression and sidelining potential challengers. This discourages political development and achievement of objectives such as transparency, accountability, and fulfilling the needs of the public (Crick, 2005, pp. 10-18).
Election rigging is a common characteristic of an authoritarian regime. Furthermore, authoritarian leaders tend to disregard the law and pay little attention to public concerns. Political competition tends to be low or nonexistent in an authoritarian regime because the ruler has an indefinite political tenure. In a constitutional regime, the country’s laws limit the powers of the governors.
Generally, the constitution defines the scope of good governance and politics. In this regard, politics is likely to be successful since the constitution protects the citizens’ right to expression and compels the government to execute its mandate. A democratic regime is associated with widespread participation in public affairs. The citizens have the right to choose their leaders and representatives at regular intervals, thereby promoting competitive politics.
Democracy promotes progressive politics because citizens have the right to question their leaders. Besides, the government is accountable to the parliament, which has the authority to accept or reject proposed laws, decisions, and policies. One element of a democratic regime that promotes good politics is protection of civil rights (Crick, 2005, pp. 40-50). In particular, the leaders must operate within the law by making political decisions that conform to the constitution.
The state cannot take away the citizens’ rights such as freedom of association, expression, and access to basic services. The politicians too have a right to express their opinions freely, to criticize the government, and to hold their campaigns without intimidation. Hence, democratic governments are likely to be more effective than totalitarian and constitutional regimes. Furthermore, a democratic regime provides the best environment for political development.
The Executive
The executive organizes the structures of authority that facilitate execution of the functions of the government. In most countries, the executive is responsible for the formation of the government by appointing members of the cabinet and holders of key positions in the public sector.
The executive also plays an integral role in decision-making by issuing specific and general instructions concerning an existing or an imminent problem (Crick, 2005, pp. 7-17). Other roles of the executive include commanding the armed forces, representing the country in international functions, and pardoning offenders among others. The quality and the characteristics of the executive determine the success of politics.
An authoritative executive is likely to discourage political development by excluding key stakeholders in the decision-making process. In authoritarian regimes, the executives hardly consult the opposition parties on national issues. Additionally, they use their excessive authority and state machinery to avert any form of political opposition. For example, President Mubarak used the emergency law in Egypt to reduce political competition. This law facilitated the detention and torture of anyone who opposed the government.
Similarly, President Mursi has since acquired unlimited powers in order to control every aspect of Egyptians’ lives. Even though his performance as the executive falls short of the expectations of his citizens, he continues to use the police force to discourage expression of dissent. Democratic executives usually strive to ensure political inclusion. Furthermore, they have to serve the interest of the polity in order to be reelected. This implies that a democratic executive is likely to promote progressive politics.
Charismatic leaders (executives) usually have great influence on the nature and evolution of politics. These leaders normally enjoy a lot of support in parliament. Hence, their political decisions are likely to sail through the approval process in parliament without much scrutiny. This leads to the adoption of ineffective policies and enforcement of laws that might serve the interest of the executive at the expense of the public (Hague & Harrop, 2010, pp. 100-150).
In some countries, the executives depend on corruption, as well as, divide and rule tactics to perpetuate their political ideologies and leadership. For example, in most African countries the executives normally appoint politicians to cabinet positions in exchange of unconditional support in parliament and during elections. Hence, progressive politics have little or no chance of success in a regime that is led by a corrupt executive.
The Bureaucracy
The bureaucracy consists of civil servants whose main responsibility is to implement the decisions of the executive or the government. The roles of the bureaucracy include the following. To begin with, the bureaucracy participates in policy formulation. Traditionally, this function was the sole responsibility of the executive (Hague & Harrop, 2010, pp. 30-70).
However, in the contemporary society the bureaucracy helps in policy formulation due to two reasons. First, most executives are armatures with little or no technical skills. Consequently, they cannot design effective policies on their own. In this regard, the executives have to obtain expert advice from the bureaucracy.
Second, the executive and politicians normally entrust the bureaucracy with some aspects of the policy formulation process in order to enhance efficiency. Concisely, seeking help from the bureaucracy helps politicians to save time and resources in the process of policy formulation. The bureaucracy also executes some legislative functions. For example, a department of the government can make sub-laws, but within the scope of existing Acts of Parliament.
The roles of the bureaucracy have significant impacts on politics. Concisely, the effectiveness of the bureaucracy in policy formulation and implementation determines the success of political processes such as elections. A bureaucracy whose members possess advanced skills is likely to help the executive to make informed political decisions. One factor that usually leads to government failure is politicization of the bureaucracy.
In developing countries with poor governance systems, civil servants are usually appointed through nepotism and corruption rather than merit. In this case, the bureaucracy tends to lack the expertise that it needs in order to achieve its mandate. A politicized bureaucracy usually serves the political interests of the executive rather than the public. For instance, the bureaucracy can be instructed by the executive to implement a given development project in order to please the public.
However, the project might not be beneficial to the public. A malpractice of this nature normally prompts political activism and debate among opposition leaders in a democratic regime (Crick, 2005, pp. 40-52). However, the opposition leaders in a totalitarian regime might not question such malpractices for fear of political repressions.
One of the major strengths of the bureaucracy is that its members have permanent employment contracts. This ensures continuity in the implementation of policies. For example, the bureaucracy often continues to run the government after the dissolution of the parliament and the cabinet, thereby sustaining on-going political processes.
In this regard, it ensures that newly elected regimes adopt the policies of their predecessors. Nonetheless, the bureaucracy cannot succeed without the support of the politicians. This is because its members are not elected. Thus, they are hardly aware of the needs and aspirations of the public.
The legislature
The legislature is one of the most important institutions since it facilitates politics at the grassroots and the national level. The first role of the legislature is to represent the public. Hence, the public channels its complaints and concerns to the government through this institution. The legislature is the best political institution for articulating the concerns of the public because of its diverse membership.
The second role of the legislature is making laws. This role is important because it facilitates adoption of laws that encourage healthy politics and fulfillment of the citizens’ needs (Hague & Harrop, 2010, pp. 160-200). Finally, the legislature provides oversight on the operations of the government. This involves monitoring the operations of the executive for efficiency, integrity, and commitment.
The ability of the legislature to promote political development depends on the following factors. First, the formal powers of the legislature determine the extent to which it can facilitate politics. A legislature with an absolute authority to enact laws directly is likely to facilitate progressive politics.
On the contrary, the success of politics is limited in a regime whose legislature is controlled by the executive. In this case, the legislature will merely act as a rubber stamp whose responsibility is to endorse decisions or choices made by various arms of the government. Second, the capacity of the legislature to use its formal powers determines its contribution to politics.
The legislature is likely to promote political development if its members have the capacity to manage parliamentary activities such as scheduling debates and drafting laws. The effectiveness of parliamentary committees, availability of expertise and members’ ability to make decisions also determine the extent to which the legislature contributes to politics.
In weak democracies, parliamentary committees tend to be ineffective since the members lack the technical skills that are necessary in decision-making. In some cases, the committee members accept bribes in order to support or reject certain policies and recommendations. Third, the available political space determines the effectiveness of the legislature.
Authoritarian regimes provide little political space, thereby jeopardizing the legislature’s efforts to perform its oversight and lawmaking functions. A democratic system usually provides adequate political space (Crick, 2005, pp. 41-50). This enables the legislature to be very assertive and independent. The resulting improvement in the effectiveness of the legislature facilitates political processes such as policy formulation, lawmaking, and articulation of the citizens’ problems.
The Experts
In modern democracies, experts operate as independent political actors. They work in collaboration with civil societies, interest groups, and social movements among others. Experts are think tanks whose main role is to help the government to make sound decisions (Crick, 2005, pp. 19-36).
They participate in policy formulation by providing expert advice on technical issues. For example, most countries usually hire independent consultants to spearhead the process of drafting new constitutions. Experts also play an important role in the provision of civic education and articulation of social and political problems. In this regard, they discuss the issues that the country is grappling with and present policy recommendations to the government for action.
The quality of the experts in terms of their skills and knowledge determines the extent to which they can influence politics. Possession of adequate skills and knowledge enables the experts to make positive contributions to political development.
The capacity of the experts to utilize their skills and knowledge is also important. Experts who are empowered to express their opinions without fear of political repression normally improve the politics of their country. Concisely, they generate new political ideas and empower their fellow citizens to focus on progressive politics.
Political Parties
A well functioning political system must have effective parties. In the contemporary society, availability of adequate political parties is a necessary requirement for the formation of a democratic system of governance (Crick, 2005, pp. 40-50). The parties mobilize the citizens and facilitate their participation in political processes. In this regard, they socialize and educate the electorate on issues such as the functioning of the electoral system.
They also obtain opinions from the public and channel it to the government. In most cases, the political parties aggregate and articulate the concerns of their members before contacting the government for help. Finally, political parties recruit and train candidates who compete for elective positions in general elections. A political party can only perform these functions if it has effective organizational structures.
The party must have different levels of management that are responsible for the execution of various tasks. The party can only make meaningful contributions to politics if its leaders are able to create and implement effective manifestos. It is apparent that parties with corrupt leaders cannot encourage progressive politics. The party must have adequate funds in order to make positive contributions in politics. For example, parties cannot sponsor political campaigns and voter education if they have inadequate funds.
Conclusion
Politics is facilitated by various institutions, which include the executive, legislature, bureaucracy, experts, and political parties among others (Crick, 2005, pp. 5-16). Each of these institutions focuses on specific aspects of various political processes. For example, the executive formulates policies, whereas the legislature provides oversight on the implementation process. The effectiveness of these institutions is determined by their qualities.
These qualities include the integrity of the members, the capacity of the institution to execute its mandate, availability of resources, and the vision of the institution among others. The existence of these qualities enables an institution to make positive contributions to political development. This leads to the conclusion that the efficacy of governance and politics depends on the quality of political institutions.
References
Crick, B. (2005). In Defence of Politics. London: Continuum.
Hague, R., & Harrop, M. (2010). Political Science: A Comparative Introduction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.