Politics as Social Necessity: Discourse on the Moral Foundation of Politics
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2022
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Politics, in letter and in spirit, will be restricted to the sphere of government and, by implication, the state. The paper is philosophical and uses critical methods with recourse to secondary data. It admits the contention that politics has its origin in morality and should always be subjected to moral assessment. When politics is mentioned, we mean that which politicians and public and political office holders and statesmen do in the service of the state. Other perspectives of politics, such as what happens in the family circles, boardrooms, marketplaces, industries, and religious organisations, and in organisations outside government and the state, are hereby suppressed, even as the allusion may only be in passing or by implication. The paper argues that politics and politicking have their origin in human moral consciousness. Men, in organised society, could only reasonably evolve a system through which they are rationally organised. Politics is in accord with the moral nature of man. The paper posits that politics must be practiced within the ambit of morality and is therefore constantly in need of moral assessment; this accounts for the reason civilised countries make high moral demands on their politicians and political office holders. Political parties on their own shop for people of impeccable character and high levels of integrity to fly their flags during elections; a critical objective of a political party is to clinch power. The development or otherwise of any polity is determined in the main by the degree of morality appropriated by the political office holders. A government is judged by its moral standing. This therefore underscores the conclusion that politics is consistent with morality. Politics is better understood, assessed, and made intelligible within the framework of morality. Therefore, any attempt to deprive politics of its moral inclination will be a disservice to humanity. More so, that politics stems from human activity, and like most human acts, it calls for moral assessment and hence a return to moral consciousness and ethical reorientation in political life.
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Onyekwere, B. A. (2022). Politics as Social Necessity: Discourse on the Moral Foundation of Politics. Crawford Journal of Politics. Vol. 3 No. 1,