Authorizing Political Solutions: CG5

By recognizing responsibility-G1 people naturally participate in the 7 arenas of social/political commitment…

…which are sustained and constrained by those who feel obligated to use pressure to make a difference:

In undertaking political work-G2, these political players become adept at using some of the 6 instruments of influence…

…which are sustained and constrained by self-interestedly taking advantage of emerging crises:

In driving political mobilization-G3, political organizers harness one or more of the 5 outcomes of crises… 

…which are sustained and constrained by formally exploring distinct perspectives on policy:

In resolving political differences-G4, government and society expect to benefit from 4 sources of policy ideas…

… which are sustained and constrained by openly ensuring their authorization to produce solutions for society:

… now read on:

What is Authority for Society About?

Formal authority is needed to commit the power and wealth of a society to shape itself and deal with other societies. This is where government comes in (see below). But, remember: our focus is politics.

Pushing through viable political solutions to complex problems is much harder than reviewing and proposing policy-CG4. Change is hard because people differ on what they want from government for themselves &/or their group, and what they believe is needed to make a policy or choice work.

3 shapers of political solutions are leaders who determine what shall be authorized in government.

The function of authorization-CG5 is:

  • to enable leadership of various sorts within and without governing institutions to contend about details of possible solutions,

    &

  • to reach a resolution, knowing that sufficient powerful people and powerful groups will provide support for governmental formalities, leading to acceptance by the citizenry at large.

Diffusion of Authority

A range of suitable people must be somehow acknowledged as authorized leaders by society as a whole.

So each citizen faces a simple political choice: Closedeither become a political leader yourself, or find a way to support leaders of whose values and views you approve.

This raises some critical issues:

  • Who gets themselves into positions where they can wield authority within society, both inside and outside government.
  • How these leaders use their position to influence the details of legislation and executive orders made for—and symbolically by—the whole society.
  • Who authorizes political leaders to handle the various governing institutions and ensure something actually happens

Doctrine of Separation of Powers

This doctrine is mentioned here to emphasize that it has little to do with politics and everything to do with good governance—which may or may not be a political issue. It affirms that each organ of government must be assigned necessary powers, subject to preventing excessive concentration of societal power within a single organ, or single person or small group within that organ.
ClosedMore:

Arrangements vary among states, but in general there are 6 organs of government with specific powers and requiring distinctive expertise.

  • A political executive to propose laws for society.
  • A legislature to debate and make laws.
  • An adminstrative executive to implement laws and provide services
  • A judiciary to judge application of laws and protect a lone individual against over-reaching state power.
  • A monarch/head-of-state to represent the unity and indivisibility of society.
  • A military to protect the state from physical threat externally or internally.

These organs of government are authorized to act on behalf of society, and that remit leads them to spawn many subsidiary bodies.

Now back to politics:

  • From a governing perspective, society may have just one prime minister or president, and one governance system with allocated official powers.

    BUT

  • From a political perspective, society has many contending leaders with power bases within society of varying strength and dependability.

The beneficial aspects of diffusing leadership, with its uncertainty about government action (power), can upset those tempted by power and lusting for control. This temptation is irresistible for many politicians …Closed and so the executive branch of government strives to inflate its own importance, accumulate as much power as possible, and diminish and devalue other sources of leadership—including knowingly weakening or stacking the legislature and the judiciary.

The public can also be tempted by the fantasy of an omnipotent leader—if only others would let that glorious wonder-worker take full control.

Society has 3 authorization systems associated with government, each of which requires leadership by individuals who are themselves authorized. These leaders can be categorized via their origin in a mode of authorization:

  • Leaders by Election CG-51
  • Leaders by Appointment CG-52
  • Leaders by Emergence CG-53

First: 

Then:

Originally posted: August-2009; Last updated: 15-Nov-2010