Political Influences

Politicization

Government solutions (CL4) necessarily interact with the Rule of Law (CL2), and with Officials (CL3). Government officials (CL3) have an obligation to make themselves accessible to official representatives (CL3) of established powerful groups (CL1). This interaction exposes government officials to temptation.

Channels of influence to government solutions from lower level political institutions.

Given the aim is to get government solutions with a desired bias, it naturally seems to powerful groups that engaging the private interests of government officials (CL3P) might be easier and surer than depending on due process and formal obligations (CL3S). 

The Channels

Because «politicization» disturbs government's capacity to consider society's well-being, the influences are divided into those that are necessary and those that are damaging.

No CL4B ↔ CL1B Channel

This Channel, or rather the absence of this Channel, is of paramount significance in understanding politics and how things go awry.

No organized group-CL1B can impact directly on government choice-CL4B. The best it can do is ensure that its official representatives-CL3 get access to government officials or give evidence at inquiries.

So all to-and-fro interaction between government and a group or organization takes place between individuals-CL3 who are acting both in accord with the duties inherent in their role, and to some degree from the perspective of their own self-interest (both of which are affected by their own groups)—as described earlier exploring who is in politics and government.



  • The next step takes us to the contexts for government choices, starting with the social context.

Originally posted: July 2009; Last updated: 27 Jan 2010