Even the farthest person from politics is constantly confronted with the concept of "power." For example, with some serious flaws, problems in the state and society, the question immediately arises: "Where are the authorities looking?" Or if they say "someone has an imperious character" about someone, it is immediately clear that this person loves to command.
Instruction manual
1
The word "power" means the ability to force other people to behave in a certain way, to adhere to generally accepted laws, rules. There are many varieties of power, but the most important among them is political.
2
Why can political power, compared with other forms of power, be considered a phenomenon, that is, something special that stands out sharply from the general background? Because it is she who personifies the will of the state, society (or rather, that ruling class, layer, which acts on behalf of the whole society). Political power has a number of characteristic features that are inherent only to it and have a huge impact on all citizens of the state.
3
Political power establishes laws, monitors their implementation and punishes them for violations. She, if necessary, can change laws or completely repeal them. For this purpose, it has all the necessary political institutions, for example, parliament, government, judicial and law enforcement agencies.
4
Political power is responsible for the external and internal security of the state and society as a whole. She conducts diplomatic activities, maintaining relations with other states and defending the interests of her own country in the international arena. The government is obliged to ensure that conflicts do not arise inside the country (for example, interethnic, interreligious), preventing timely “acute” situations, using law enforcement agencies and military forces. If this nevertheless happened, the political authorities are obliged to quickly extinguish the conflict, preventing it from flaring up. To do this, she can use a variety of methods, starting with the role of arbiter, ending with the use of force when absolutely necessary.
5
It is political power that owns the monopoly on the creation and use of armed forces, law enforcement agencies, as well as the possibility of their use in foreign and domestic politics. In other words, only political power has the right to use violence in cases where this is required for the interests of the state and society.
6
Political power shapes public opinion, influencing it through the media, agitation and propaganda. This is still an incomplete list of features of political power. But the above is enough to make sure of its special significance for the country and the people living in it.
