Politics: Origin and Continuity

The machinery of government cannot function without one of society’s main pillar — politics.  Politics serves as a necessary “lubricant” that maintains the structure of society, in order that the techniques of administration can be properly put to the test and allowed to function normally through the formation of a government.

Greece was the first civilized country that initiated the idea that the only feasible method of forming a government is through a system of exchanging opinions and suggestions and weighing their differences on the scale of logic and reason.

Aristotle was the first philosopher who delved into the study of governing democratically by weighing the pros and cons of ideologies that could be attributed analytically to the people’s wishes, without upsetting the balance of fairness in a society in which everybody could be counted as useful citizens.  In fact, Aristotle is regarded as the founder of political science, classifying governments in the order of monarchies, aristocracies and democracies.  His theory was popularized by Plato and elucidated in his Republic wherein he projected the idea of a community engaged in tutoring and training young people to becomes politicians.  Plato was the first to introduce the privilege of owning private property, and by so doing, protected private owners from external perils.

John Locke was the first English philosopher who expounded the theory that the laws of government depended on the people and that governments were mere trustees in charge of meeting people’s needs. His book, Two Treatises on Civil Government served as a catalyst for democratic ideas.  His writings formed a bridge between the bold political thinking of earlier republican days and the revolutionary movement both in America and France.

There were a number of other philosophers in France, such as Montesquieu and Jean Jacques Rousseau whose contributions formed the basis of the United States Constitution that was later refined to establish the present system of politics in the United States.  Regrettably, the system was adulterated by the practice of slavery that was a distinct departure from the source that inspired the planning of the U.S. Constitution, until the enactment of the Civil Rights Act that removed that undesirable link in the chain of political freedom.