When I need to send my uncle a christmas card, some documents or a package from the US to Fogo, Cape Verde, I only have limited options on getting the item right to my uncle himself (meaning have it delivered right to the door of his residence). I'm not sure if the situation is the same for those in other parts of the world such as Europe and parts of Africa, thus i'm going to assume the situation is similar since the existence of a modern mail system is not present in Cape Verde.
There are two issues with the state of the mailing system in Cape Verde:
1. Cape Verde has no official address format. The streets are not officially named which means even getting around is a guesswork. Furthermore, since the streets aren't officially named, homes don't have an identification number. This makes it hard for a modern mail system to deliver mail efficiently to its destination.
2. Without an official address format, a modern mail system would not be able to achieve much in terms of delivering items to their destination. Currently, I believe the system depends on the telecommunication company called Telecom. Telecom handles electronic and telephony communication services and the mailing delivery system. The subsidiary that takes care of the mailing system is called Correios de Cabo Verde, which literally translates to Cape Verde Mail company.
There is no mail delivery system, unless it's a telegram. Even when a telegram is processed, it is hard to get it to its rightful destination. If I were to send my uncle a mail, he would have no way of knowing that he has a mail waiting for him at the mail office unless I informed him so. After knowing that he has a mail waiting for him, he just needs to go up there present the necessary documents to receive the item.
In the capital, Praia there is a contracted company that takes package deliveries from UPS and it only delivers it in the Island of Santiago. This leaves out the other Islands out of the loop. I'm sure this same contracted company takes deliveries from other carriers other than UPS, however, UPS is the only American company that delivers to Praia.
Since my uncle lives in Fogo, sending him an item through UPS is not an option. As far as i'm concerned, not many people use the UPS service to Praia. To send my uncle an item, I would either have to send it through the USPS which delivers to Cape Verde, and inform him of the expected arrival date, and then he would have to go into the mail office and check if it's available. The expected delivery date is never accurate which makes knowing an exact date of arrival difficult.
A more accurate method of sending items to Cape Verde are through friends; and sometimes a friend of a friend. The Cape Verdean community here in the US does this more often than using the mail system. The reason they do this is because there are no other alternative. I've heard many express the fact they would rather use the mail system if Cape Verde had a modern and efficient one. Other than friends, Cape Verdeans send barrels and crates full of goods to family members. The Cape Verdean port authority handles the incoming goods and taxes in accordance to the contents of the shipment. The system is bureaucratic and expensive, and there has been many instances where employees of the port authority outright steal goods destined to someone else. Furthermore, shipping goods to Cape Verde in the just mentioned method is only efficient in the case you have a large amount of goods.
Cape Verde has made strides of modernization to much of the country's infrastructure and modus operandi of government institutions. The need for a modern mail system is vital for the economic development of the country. It both helps the government in doing its necessary tasks and expands business opportunities for the private sector.
NOTE:
I've gotten some information confirming that all municipalities have named streets on their zoning maps with no house numbers; and Praia has a modern address format for it's municipality. The address format is similar to that of Portugal with house number, street name, city and province which is Cape Verde. That being said, the streets of Praia have no street signs and houses have no assigned number, not even the residents know their house number.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Democracy: Cape Verde vs. Guinea Bissau
Lesson for Establishing/maintaining democracy: Lipset’s Economic Development Theory
Introduction
Seymour Lipset’s economic development theory is an indispensable tool of analysis when it comes to the discussion of establishment and or maintenance of democracy. Even though his units of assessment (measuring indicators) are broad, the correlation between economic development and democracy holds true. In a time when the subject matter is relevant, it is reasonable for one to ask whether Lipset’s economic development theory is still valid in. It is specially relevant to explore this question since the United States is presently pushing for both the establishment and maintenance of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan; furthermore the U.S leads in the spread of democratic ideals in the world.
Lacking a fundamental understanding of possible developmental preconditions to democracy, the drive to spread democracy may prove to be costly and inefficient in places where a certain level of development is not present. Since Lipset’s theory stands as an important assessment tool in political science, it may be more helpful for us to test it and identify the attributes to development that foster democracy and address them accordingly in establishing and maintaining democracy. In doing so, establishing and maintening of democracy could be achieved more efficiently.
My goal is to make clear the relationship of economic development to political development by analyzing the development of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau in the past twenty years to show how economic development in these two countries impacted their political outcome, thus giving us a better understanding of how economic development or the lack thereof may impact the establishment and or maintenance of democracy. Statistical and empirical data will show that a stable and continuous economic development is vital for the establishment and or maintenance of democracy. Also, the data establishes a indisputable connection between economic development and political development, suggesting that economic development impacts a country’s political outcome.To achieve this, I will employ the most-similar method of research to compare statistical and relevant empirical data from the two case studies. I will engage my methods of research in detail in the next section.
Research Design
My interests in Africa and my appreciation for Lipset’s economic development theory influenced me to choose Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde as case studies to test Lipset’s economic development theory, and see whether their economic development impacted their political outcome. In the process, I will use the most-similar method of research. This method is helpful in narrowly interpreted comparison cases with few or one differing variable. Most-similar method of research is appropriately advantageous for my purpose since I’m comparing two relatively similar cases with one varying outcome. However advantageous, I understand that in the event more complex variables are introduced, most-similar method of research becomes problematic since it has limited range of applicability in analyzing complex cases. However, so far I have not encountered any disadvantageous problems with the application of most-similar method of research in this study.
Certainly, in conducting this kind of research one needs one or more hypothesis with variables that are valid and operationalized. I intent to make the variables in my hypothesis clear and simple in order for the reader to easily identify and distinguish them when they see it. My hypothesis are the following: first, I believe economic growth creates a better environment for both the establishment and maintenance of democracy; and second, I believe economic growth also creates en environment of cooperation and prosperity in an ethnically plural society, eliminating possibilities of ethnic tensions.
From the hypothesis stated above, we can identify two dependent variables. The first, and perhaps the most important for this paper is democracy. Democracy is an old idea, with a vague and ambiguous definition. With that said, I believe Dahl’s interpretation of democracy is the best suited for my purpose. Dahl thinks of democracy as “a political system that is completely or almost completely responsive to all its citizens” (Dahl 2). Furthermore, Dahl’s in depth interpretation of the subject identifies what he sees as the three most important components of democracy. One is meaningful and extensive competition (election), a highly inclusive political process (participation), and civil liberties. Dahl’s interpretation of democracy makes it easy to be identified when it’s present. Democracy can be easily measured by looking at the country’s official political system, existence of elections, balance of power, the presence of civil liberties and military interference with the civil government. Furthermore, Dahl’s components of democracy and its attributes have to be practiced uninterrupted for a reasonable number of years.
Ethnic tension, the other dependent variable, is possibly a self explanatory term which makes it easy to be identified. However, measuring ethnic tension can be a bit difficult. Most countries in the world have a certain density of ethnic plurality. I define ethnic groups as those whose members share a common history, language and culture; and an ethnically plural country is one with two or more ethnic groups. To measure ethnic tension, I will use empirical and statistical data on inter-ethnic violence, territorial control or division along ethnic lines, and the control in full or in part of the government and or governmental institutions by one or few ethnic groups.
My independent variable is economic growth, or in Lipset’s own words, economic development. A lot can be learned from statistical information of a country’s economic development. For my purposes, economic development means the continuous and stable growth of all aspects of a country. I will focus on a few but crucial attributes of development in measuring the level of economic development. Economic development indicators such as life expectancy, literacy rate, GDP per capita in US $ and the human development index as noted by the United Nations will serve as the base indicators for economic development. The source of the statistical data corresponding to each attribute of economic development will be extracted from the United Nation’s Human Development Reports.
The intervening variable for both hypothesis is improvement. Both hypothesis clearly suggest that the dependent variables rely on the improvement of the independent variable; that is, democracy and the decrease in ethnic tension dependents on the stable and continuous improvement of economic development. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that a country with a stable and continuous improvement in economic development will have a better chance in establishing and or maintaining a democratic system of government .
To strengthen my hypothesis and the validity of my variables, I have to address the existence of any alternative variables and their corresponding hypothesis. A potential independent variable I foresee is the ethnic make up of a country and respectively its hypothesis would imply that a country with an ethnically homogeneous population is better suited for democracy while an ethnically plural population has more difficulties with democracy. The ethnic make up of a country is a popular explanation for countries where democracy has faltered in the face of an ethnically plural population. Even though it is important to address in depth the ethnic make up of a country, my hypothesis deals with the issue. One of my hypothesis states that ethnic tension is driven down by economic development, since the different ethnic groups cooperate peacefully and prosper together in an environment of stable and continuous economic growth.
Findings
The two case studies of this research had what I will call a fair start in the economic development race. Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde were very poor at independence, both suffering from long term neglect on development during the colonial era. However different these two countries are, their history is strikingly similar. Cape Verde was one of the last nations to claim independence during the decolonization of Africa. The archipelago is made up of a total of 15 islands and islets belonging to the Macaronesian island group in the north atlantic. Portuguese explorers discovered the islands and quickly settled the territories with both African ad European settlers. Located 400 miles west of Senegal, Cape Verde’s strategic location served as an outpost for merchants and slave traders. Eventually, the settlers evolved into a unique community with a distinct culture, language and a predominantly homogenous ethnic population. “Cape Verde enjoys an indisputable cultural and ethnic unity”, with an identity that sets it apart from both Africa and Europe (Mayer 471).
According to Mayer, through its history, Cape Verde has faced long periods of drought and famine; furthermore Mayer estimates about 25% of the land to be adequate for agriculture. Although poor in natural resources and economic development potential, the Cape Verdean government employed a series of a developmental policies that resulted in surprising improvements. Mayer found a dramatic increase in domestic product, “leading to an almost threefold increase in agriculture, fishing, construction and commerce” (Mayer 471). Mayer credits the government’s ambitious economic management policies for the developmental improvement. The development continued in a positive and sustainable manner, and perhaps, the positive development made it possible for the government to open up the political process and start the implementation of democratic ideals in 1988.
From table 1, you can observe the status of development in Cape Verde published in the Human Development Report in 1991 by the UN. The numbers from 1991 are important since they represent the realities on the ground just before the government officially finished the transition to a democratic constitution. Did the development continue? What is the status of development today? Comparing the 1991 report to the latest one available, we can get a sense of the level and quality of development that has been observed in Cape Verde. The development data from 1991 and 2008 are side by side in table 1, and the improvements are easy to spot.
Table 1:
Cape Verde 1991 2008
Access to Safe Water (% of population) 69 80
Life Expectancy (years) 67 72
Adult Literacy rate (%) 50 83
GDP per Capita in US $ 1,410 2,833
HDI 0.428 0.705
The economic development improvement is almost surprising. As the 2008 data shows, Cape Verde experienced extraordinary improvement in all sectors of society. The amount of people with access to safe water increased from 69% to 80%. It’s ranking for Human Development Index from the UN increased dramatically from .428 to .705. Perhaps the most extraordinary improvement can be observed in the adult literacy rate. In 1991, only 50% of the country’s adult population aged 15 and above were literate; in 2008 the number jumped to 83%. As the indicating numbers suggest, the overall GDP per Capita increased substantially from $1,410 to $2,833. An overall impressive growth is observed in Cape Verde’s development.
The economic development indicators displayed tell the full story of development in Cape Verde. The data represent real improvement on the ground; from life expectancy improvement we can acknowledge improvement in access to health care, advancement in health care technology, improvement in quality of sanitation, improvement on infrastructure to actually signaling to a certain level of modernization. Literacy rate can tell us a lot about education and its accessibility to the population. The improvements in education as represented by the adult literacy rate indicator is amazing. In materializing the economic development theory, Lipset seemed to put great emphasis on the importance of education and its improvement. We can only assume that the more educated a country is, the more likely it is to develop, since knowledge brings improvements to may sectors of the development process. Literacy level can shed light on essential aspects of a society such as the existence of a middle class and its capacity to act, the existence of a skilled work force, and overall improvement on infrastructure and modernization. Although literacy rate can be a great indicator for development, it is too broadly specified. Perhaps, it would be important to break down literacy rate and analyze different level of education attained by the population for a more in depth analyzation of the quality of education present in both cases.
Impressively, the economic development in Cape Verde has been stable and continuous with no reports of interruptions or negative growth. The UN report also notes improvement on the elimination of poverty and the elevation of status of women in the country. According to the UN, the probability of a person not surviving past the age of 40 is only 7.5% and the illiteracy rate runs at a low of 17%. These numbers compete against nations rich in resources and means for development. More recently, the weekly Cape Verdean newspaper asemana, noted that UNESCO’s statistics on education showed Cape Verde’s government invest as much as 7% of of its budget on education, the highest noted in Africa. As you can observe from the statistics presented, the overall economic development of Cape Verde has been positive. In the early years of the economic development drive in Cape Verde, Mayer acknowledged preliminary success, he saw the possibility of Cape Verde’s economic development model to be an example and possibly be “emulated in other African countries,” for that matter he saw lessons for Africa as a whole in Cape Verde’s early success in development (Mayer 472). Today that success has persisted, with Cape Verde being the second nation state in the history of UN to graduate from the category of developing nation to medium developing nation.
On the other hand we have Guinea-Bissau. Guineans and Cape Verdeans organized and fought against the Portuguese rule. Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde suffered similar neglect in development under Portuguese rule. However, from an economic potential stand point, Guinea faired better since it has vast plains for agriculture development and limited but significant amount of natural resources. The country’s strategic location is potentially a window for commerce to the rest of Africa. Indeed at independence, the international community held Guinea to high standards expecting rapid improvements in development. The development effort started even before the country was officially independent. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC its Portuguese acronym), founded in early 50s by Amilcar Cabral, balanced its military operations with a whole range of social services in towns and villages under their control. Munslow reports that PAIGC had doctors and teachers going from village to village attending people and providing them with vital services. An astonishing development is evidence of an election organized by the PAIGC as early as 1972 in which an estimated 90,000 people participated.
Guinea-Bissau has an ethnically plural society, with some estimating the existence of twenty different ethnic groups in the country. Europa World’s statistic on the matter shows the Balante being the biggest out of all making up at least 30% of the population; followed by 20% Fulani, 14% Mandjak, 12% Mandinka, 7% Papel and the rest 16% categorized as others. Munslow notes that during the fight for independence, the different ethnic groups had a high level of participation in he movement (Munslow 110). While the indigenous Guinean population, participated in the anti-colonial movement, Cape Verdeans held the most important tasks in the movement. Being more educated, Cape Verdeans filled had most of the political and administrative duties; this fact was true even during the colonial era, Munslow notes that the light skinned Cape Verdeans were used as “auxiliaries to colonial rule much as the Indians were used by the British in East Africa” (Munslow 110). Munslow saw problems as early as independence with Cape Verdeans control of the economy and much of the political aspect of life in Guinea. Ultimately it seems, the indigenous population of whom Munslow estimated 99% to be illiterate at independence, grew apart from the Cape Verdean hegemony of the government (Munslow 110).
The growing discontent with the post independence government resulted in a coup d’etat in 1980. The peaceful nation building, and perhaps the only and most unique political experiment that began at independence in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, two sovereign nations ruled by one political system, met its end with the coup. Fostered by anti Cape Verdean propaganda followed by overwhelming social backing, Joao Bernardo Vieira lead a bloodless coup aiming, “to chase off the colonialists who were still in Guinea-Bissau”, meaning Cape Verdeans (Munslow 110). With relatively no experience in governance, Vieira deported all the politically aware Cape Verdeans including the ousted President and PAIGC Secretary General. Soon after, Vieira created a new revolutionary government and disbanded all former institutions replacing them with his new revolutionary institutions.
This is the point when a significant level of ethnic tension is realized in Bissau. The Balante ethnic group made up the bulk of the fighting force of PAIGC’s military arm and when the new state was formed, they retained their posts in the security services. To this day, some statistics have them controlling as much as 95% of the security establishment in the country. Balante were allies of Cape Verdeans, and agreed with the initial developmental policies the post independence government worked on. Witnessing the treatment of Cape Verdeans by the revolutionary government, Balante support for Vieira, who belonged to the Papel minority, substantially decreased. Over the years, Vieira relied on the security forces to maintain his grip on power. However tense, the situation might have been under Vieira, ethnic tensions were present only in small scale with mainly balante and Papel struggling for more influence in the country’s decision making.
A power struggle eventually emerged in mid 90s, with the country drifting to a low intensity civil war in 99. The security forces were divided between Vieira and the military chief of staff, with skirmishes taking place all over Bissau. Vieira would eventually go into exile leaving the country on the hands of a military government. The government attempted to return to civilian rule for the benefit of attaining much need foreign aid. However this proved problematic. A civilian government was formed with Kumba Iala as the new president to portray stability. Kumba Iala was later overthrown by the military in 2003.
Back from exile in 2005, Vieira emerged once again as a leader running in the elections in the same year promising economic development and prosperity. However, the status of the country had changed drastically. According to various UN reports, Guinea-Bissau was being increasingly used as a transit point for drugs bound for Europe. Long term political instability and neglect in development resulted in a country ranked as one of the 5 poorest in the world. Vieira’s popularity in the country seemed unshakable as he emerged once again as the president from the 2005 elections. However, this time his control over the security establishment was limited.
The new strongman in control of the military from 2004 on was Tagma Na Wae. Tagma resembled his country’s economic development misfortune. Even though illiterate, Na Wae’s long military service dating from the PAIGC era had secured him a position amongst the top decision makers in the military. The point I want to make clear here is that, Na Wae and Vieira had disagreed from the moment Vieira decided to launch the coup. As a consequence, Na Wae was reportedly tortured by Vieira’s agents in the early years of the revolutionary government. In an interview to RTP of Portugal, Na Wae claimed that he was brutally tortured by Vieira’s agents, he emphasized not even the Portuguese had done what Vieira did to them. The animosity between the two men dominated the political atmosphere of Bissau. Both men escaped assassination attempts, reportedly planned by each other. On March 1 of 2009 Na Wae’s luck ran out. He was killed by a bomb blast in his office. Later that night soldiers allied to Na Wae attacked Vieira’s residence and killed him.
Table 2:
Guinea-Bissau 1991 2008
Access to Safe Water (% of population) 21 43
Life Expectancy (years) 42.5 46
Adult Literacy rate (%) 30 62
GDP per Capita in US $ 670 467
HDI 0.088 0.383
However drastic, the murder of Vieira and the Army Chief of staff had it’s roots in the 1980 coup. The political instability and neglect in development also started with the revolutionary government of Vieira. As you can observe in table 2, although a slight improvement is realized, the numbers are exemplary to the country’s political instability; the economic development indicators show poor levels of development. Similar from the data provided in table 1 for Cape Verde, tale 2 shows a slight improvement in development in Guinea as reported by the UN human development report in 1991 and 2008; however the improvements are almost unacceptably slow. The data show that after almost two decades, over half of the country still has no access to safe water, a large percentage of the population is still illiterate and most striking, the country’s per capita GDP suffered a significant negative growth over the years. Furthermore, the same UN report establishes that 40.5% of the population don’t reach 40 years of age. Compared to Cape Verde in table 3, Guinea-Bissau’s economic development status is poor, and by international status it is one of the poorest. Since the mid 90s Guinea proclaims its political system to be democratic, however that is limited to paper alone. The government has limited capabilities to act in the country, the military have a powerful influence in the country’s decision making. The government has experienced interruptions in governance and furthermore, with the assassination of Vieira and Na Wae, it seems that once again the military is vying to control the political system.
Table 3:
Access to Safe Water (% of population) Life Expectancy (years) Adult Literacy rate (%) GDP per Capita in US $ HDI
Cape Verde 1991 69 67 50 1,410 0.428
Cape Verde 2008 80 72 83 2,833 0.705
Guinea-Bissau 1991 21 42.5 30 670 0.088
Guinea-Bissau 2008 43 46 62 467 0.383
Discussion
What can we learn from this case comparison? Is Lipset’s economic development theory still valid? Does it explain the political success experienced in Cape Verde vs Guinea-Bissau? The data is indisputable. Lipset’s economic development theory holds true for this research. You may argue that rather than being economic development that drove Cape Verde to democracy, it is the other way around; meaning that democracy fostered economic development in Cape Verde. This would not be accurate and the empirical data presented here proves my point. Cape Verde’s economic development predates the push for democracy, and early success was realized years before the political system transitioned to democracy.
This study shows that Lipset’s economic development theory is still relevant and very much valid. The statistical data strengthen by empirical data from both cases support the idea that a country with stable and continuos growth is a better environment for democracy. Economic development theory is the best unit of assessment for Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau since there are no other plausible alternative for the political development. However, the data does not set a level or a point in which democracy could take shape, but fulfilling my hypothesis, the data showed that a stable and continuos growth is a better environment for democracy. Cape Verde is an example for continuous and stable economic development where democratic development resulted from economic development.
On the other hand, economic development theory explains Guinea-Bissau’s political shortcomings. With poor levels of development, the political system in Guinea remains unstable and tense. Lack of development created somewhat of a significant ethnic divide (no significant data on inter-ethnic violence could be found), and overall the missed opportunity for development early on has plagued the political system with instability. The ethnic divide was specially relevant during the Vieira’s term in power. Guinea-Bissau does not meet the requirement for democracy as I defined it in the research design section. It’s political system suffer from military interference, coups and periods of military rule.
The application of Lipset’s economic development theory in this study proves that indeed it is still relevant. Although the data gathered does not identify a level of development adequate for the establishment of democracy, it identifies continuous and stable growth as vital for maintaining democracy. Perhaps that is also what is needed for the establishment of democracy. As with Cape Verde, economic development evolved in a stable environment ultimately leading to democratic reform. Based on the data, we can reasonably conclude that democracy needs stability in both the economy and political system.
Another argument could emerge, challenging my points on the basis that Cape Verde’s homogeneous population may be credited with the stability in development. This could be valid, however, it does not mean a ethnically plural would have difficulties in developing. Ethnic tension becomes relevant only in the face of economic instability. The different ethnic groups of Guinea proved capable of coming together and resolving collective problems. Throughout its history, no significant levels of ethnic tensions were noted until the the political instability experienced after the 1980 coup. We shouldn’t assume Guinean ethnic groups to be the cause for their political instability, rather data shows that the lack of economic development is a more plausible argument.
Conclusion
In a time when vast amounts of resource and energy are focused on the spread and establishment of democracy, it is my advice that we take a step back and reconsider the current approach. As data presented in this study shows, democracy may require a specific environment, a certain level of economic development, which is continuous and stable. This study has shown, where economic development is not stable and continuous, democracy falters giving way to instability and in its part, instability creates an environment of underdevelopment. This turns into a cycle of instability and underdevelopment having large implications on the political outcome of the country.
This is represented in the case studies of this research. While Cape Verde developed in a stable manner, Guinea-Bissau’s economic development faltered early on, creating instability and economic underdevelopment. The stable development in Cape Verde has in its part created a cycle of ambitious development both economically and politically. Cape Verde is ranked as one of the most democratic nations in Africa, with development comparable to many nations with a higher development potential. Guinea-Bissau’s status is represented by it’s developmental data. With as much as 40% of the population dying before reaching 40 years of age, an economy in negative growth with a substantial GDP drop from 1991; Guinea-Bissau is in its part ranked to be amongst the top five poorest nations in the world. Furthermore, the recent assassination of the President and the chief of staff of the armed forces, the country’s future looks yet more uncertain.
The connection between economic development and political development is undeniable. These two cases have established a correlation between the two. Furthermore, as Lipset suggested decades ago, economic development is indispensable to democracy. My study suggests that economic development needs to be stable and continuous, with adequate improvement on all aspects of society, ranging from health, education to the level of poverty.
My lack of new content.
I know I've been slacking on updating this blog. I have some new interesting contents I need to edit before I present it to you guys. please bookmark this and keep checking back, I would appreciate hearing from you guys on suggestions, tips and opinions. And I promise to update as often as I can with exciting posts.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
what is politics?
What is Politics?
Academics and social scientist have yet to formulate a clear and easy to understand definition for politics. Although many have written extensive on the subject, many of the definitions we have today are broad and complex. Aristotle is one of the earliest to reach groundbreaking conclusions in the topic. When he described man as a political animal, he meant exactly what he wrote. Although he saw major similarities between humans and other animals, he identified pivotal differences that set humans apart from the others; language and deliberation are two of them. De Waal writing thousands of years after Aristotle, Draws on many of Aristotle’s ideas. The origin of politics is one topic that the two authors, though separated by time, seem to have a common understanding on. De Waal like Aristotle notes that politics predates men, thus suggesting that man did not invent politics. De Waal confirms this in his observation of Chimpanzee communities. Hannah Arendt also draws on Aristotle’s understanding of association, speech and communication to formulate what she defined as the three most fundamental human activities: labor work and action.
“Politics arises between men, and so quite outside of man” (Arendt, Introduction Into Politics 95). Politics come from the relations between men, thus man is incapable of action since action comes from interaction amongst men. Action is a synonym of speech, “for speech is what makes man a political being” (Arendt, The Human Condition 3). Although Arendt’s writes extensively about the other two fundamental human activities: labor and work, it is action that seems to be more relevant. However, it is ironic that Arendt believes action, which is one of the fundamental human activities is missing from today’s societies. Thus Arendt suggests that without speech we are no longer political, “for speech is what makes man a political being” (Arendt, The Human Condition 3). Hannah Arendt suggests the reason for this is the emergence of the social and merging of the once separate public and private realm. While still visible in the ancient Greek City-States, the emergence of modern nation state merged the two “separate entities” (Arendt, The Human Condition 28). Although Arendt develops important theories on the topic of politics, however her ideas at the same time affirm that men are no longer capable of action thus suggesting we are no longer political beings. Still her understandings of human interaction and speech capability are pivotal points on the definition of politics.
Arendt’s idea that politics comes from the interaction amongst men didn’t start with her. In fact thousands of year before, Aristotle played with the idea that politics comes from the human association. Aristotle notes that every community has “some one common object in view” (History of Animals 1). Though an important part of human politics, Aristotle may have realized this from an unexpected society: that of the bees. The goal of this comparison is to show that politics predates humans, thus bringing more meaning to Aristotle’s suggestions of politics be older than men. But what sets us apart from the other creatures, is our ability to speak, reason and our ability to “declare what is just and what is unjust”, distinguish good from evil (Aristotle, Politics 7). Aristotle affirms “man is furnished from birth with arms such as language” (Aristotle, Politics 7). Even though Language should be used for the “moral prudence and virtue”, Aristotle acknowledges the potential it has to achieve opposite goals (Aristotle, Politics 7). Aristotle’s findings suggest, “the polis exists by nature and that is prior to the individual”; also that man “by nature are part of a political whole” (Aristotle, Politics 6-7).
Aristotle may just be the one to contribute the greatest to the subject. Those who touch on the subject often reference his work. Besides Hannah Arendt, Frans De Waal is another academic whose work I believe contributed significantly to the formulation of a better understanding of politics. Like Arendt, De Waal draws significantly on Aristotle’s ideas. In fact, De Waal goes into details on the theory of politics predating humans. “When Aristotle referred to man as a political animal he could not know just how near the mark he was. Our political activity seems to be a part of an evolutionary heritage we share with our close relatives...the roots of politics are older than humanity” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 207). De Waal gained great insight during his observation of many groups of chimpanzees. He realized that chimps like men, appear to be “intelligent manipulators in their use of others as social instrument” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 206). This is also true in the society of men; “men try to obtain influential position through “social manipulations” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 208). Thus, through his observation, De Waal seemed to agree with Lasswell and point that politics is the “social manipulation to secure and maintain influential positions” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 208). “who gets what, when and how” (Lasswell).
The one thing that puts men apart from other animals is language, our ability to reason and distinguish right from wrong. Our ability to communicate and create relationships amongst each other is one of the great aspects of our society. Fred Schaffer expressed his understandings that the term politics has many different definitions. He uses the definitions of Aristotle, Arendt and Lasswell. His use of these different definitions is evidence that suggest although different, the definitions are right in their own concept. For instance, Arendt thinks, “Politics arises between men, and so quite outside of man” (Arendt, Introduction Into Politics 95); and her definition is different from Lasswell’s idea that politics is all about “who gets what, when and how” (Lasswell).
Since the birth of civilization, men have been trying to define terms such as society, politics and even the origin of it all. Politics is one of the terms that still have no consensus on a definition. For over thousands of years academics have tried to put their own spin to the term politics. From Aristotle to Fred Schaffer; all these political theorists have shown that politics maybe too broad of a term to be defined. Over the years there has been a de facto realization that certain definitions are better than others. Aristotle writing thousands of years ago noticed similarities in human and animal communities; which lead him to suggest that politics predates man. However, language, deliberation and our ability to distinguish right from wrong set us apart from the other animals. Arendt writing thousands of years later reaffirmed Aristotle’s idea that politics arises from the society, but her idea that “speech is what makes man a political being” differs from Aristotle’s view that politics predates man (Arendt, The Human Condition 3). De Waal also understands association to be the pivotal aspect of politics, and agrees with Aristotle’s idea that politics pre dates man. De Waal expands it further in his comparison of chimps and man to introduce Lasswell’s definition of politics, meaning that politics is all about “who gets what, when and how” (lasswell). However great may their differences be, these authors have shown that politics at the most basic involves some sort of association, a community and that politics only arise from interaction in the community.
Academics and social scientist have yet to formulate a clear and easy to understand definition for politics. Although many have written extensive on the subject, many of the definitions we have today are broad and complex. Aristotle is one of the earliest to reach groundbreaking conclusions in the topic. When he described man as a political animal, he meant exactly what he wrote. Although he saw major similarities between humans and other animals, he identified pivotal differences that set humans apart from the others; language and deliberation are two of them. De Waal writing thousands of years after Aristotle, Draws on many of Aristotle’s ideas. The origin of politics is one topic that the two authors, though separated by time, seem to have a common understanding on. De Waal like Aristotle notes that politics predates men, thus suggesting that man did not invent politics. De Waal confirms this in his observation of Chimpanzee communities. Hannah Arendt also draws on Aristotle’s understanding of association, speech and communication to formulate what she defined as the three most fundamental human activities: labor work and action.
“Politics arises between men, and so quite outside of man” (Arendt, Introduction Into Politics 95). Politics come from the relations between men, thus man is incapable of action since action comes from interaction amongst men. Action is a synonym of speech, “for speech is what makes man a political being” (Arendt, The Human Condition 3). Although Arendt’s writes extensively about the other two fundamental human activities: labor and work, it is action that seems to be more relevant. However, it is ironic that Arendt believes action, which is one of the fundamental human activities is missing from today’s societies. Thus Arendt suggests that without speech we are no longer political, “for speech is what makes man a political being” (Arendt, The Human Condition 3). Hannah Arendt suggests the reason for this is the emergence of the social and merging of the once separate public and private realm. While still visible in the ancient Greek City-States, the emergence of modern nation state merged the two “separate entities” (Arendt, The Human Condition 28). Although Arendt develops important theories on the topic of politics, however her ideas at the same time affirm that men are no longer capable of action thus suggesting we are no longer political beings. Still her understandings of human interaction and speech capability are pivotal points on the definition of politics.
Arendt’s idea that politics comes from the interaction amongst men didn’t start with her. In fact thousands of year before, Aristotle played with the idea that politics comes from the human association. Aristotle notes that every community has “some one common object in view” (History of Animals 1). Though an important part of human politics, Aristotle may have realized this from an unexpected society: that of the bees. The goal of this comparison is to show that politics predates humans, thus bringing more meaning to Aristotle’s suggestions of politics be older than men. But what sets us apart from the other creatures, is our ability to speak, reason and our ability to “declare what is just and what is unjust”, distinguish good from evil (Aristotle, Politics 7). Aristotle affirms “man is furnished from birth with arms such as language” (Aristotle, Politics 7). Even though Language should be used for the “moral prudence and virtue”, Aristotle acknowledges the potential it has to achieve opposite goals (Aristotle, Politics 7). Aristotle’s findings suggest, “the polis exists by nature and that is prior to the individual”; also that man “by nature are part of a political whole” (Aristotle, Politics 6-7).
Aristotle may just be the one to contribute the greatest to the subject. Those who touch on the subject often reference his work. Besides Hannah Arendt, Frans De Waal is another academic whose work I believe contributed significantly to the formulation of a better understanding of politics. Like Arendt, De Waal draws significantly on Aristotle’s ideas. In fact, De Waal goes into details on the theory of politics predating humans. “When Aristotle referred to man as a political animal he could not know just how near the mark he was. Our political activity seems to be a part of an evolutionary heritage we share with our close relatives...the roots of politics are older than humanity” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 207). De Waal gained great insight during his observation of many groups of chimpanzees. He realized that chimps like men, appear to be “intelligent manipulators in their use of others as social instrument” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 206). This is also true in the society of men; “men try to obtain influential position through “social manipulations” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 208). Thus, through his observation, De Waal seemed to agree with Lasswell and point that politics is the “social manipulation to secure and maintain influential positions” (De Waal, Chimpanzee Politics 208). “who gets what, when and how” (Lasswell).
The one thing that puts men apart from other animals is language, our ability to reason and distinguish right from wrong. Our ability to communicate and create relationships amongst each other is one of the great aspects of our society. Fred Schaffer expressed his understandings that the term politics has many different definitions. He uses the definitions of Aristotle, Arendt and Lasswell. His use of these different definitions is evidence that suggest although different, the definitions are right in their own concept. For instance, Arendt thinks, “Politics arises between men, and so quite outside of man” (Arendt, Introduction Into Politics 95); and her definition is different from Lasswell’s idea that politics is all about “who gets what, when and how” (Lasswell).
Since the birth of civilization, men have been trying to define terms such as society, politics and even the origin of it all. Politics is one of the terms that still have no consensus on a definition. For over thousands of years academics have tried to put their own spin to the term politics. From Aristotle to Fred Schaffer; all these political theorists have shown that politics maybe too broad of a term to be defined. Over the years there has been a de facto realization that certain definitions are better than others. Aristotle writing thousands of years ago noticed similarities in human and animal communities; which lead him to suggest that politics predates man. However, language, deliberation and our ability to distinguish right from wrong set us apart from the other animals. Arendt writing thousands of years later reaffirmed Aristotle’s idea that politics arises from the society, but her idea that “speech is what makes man a political being” differs from Aristotle’s view that politics predates man (Arendt, The Human Condition 3). De Waal also understands association to be the pivotal aspect of politics, and agrees with Aristotle’s idea that politics pre dates man. De Waal expands it further in his comparison of chimps and man to introduce Lasswell’s definition of politics, meaning that politics is all about “who gets what, when and how” (lasswell). However great may their differences be, these authors have shown that politics at the most basic involves some sort of association, a community and that politics only arise from interaction in the community.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
