by Angela S. Young

Created on: April 30, 2009   Last Updated: June 04, 2009

Politics, politics, politics; who needs them? Unfortunately, we do. But, do we really need politics as usual? Lately, it seems that all we hear about is politics, the politics of running for political office, the politics of which party is best and even the politics of whether we need politics. Imagine a world where no politicians existed, and no one sat around arguing over their politics. In this utopia, everyone would either agree on everything or amicably disagree, with no recourse to political in-fighting or partisan party politics. While this scenario sounds great, it probably won't happen this side of heaven.

*The people behind the politics.

As long as you have people, you will have differences of opinion; as long as you have differences, you will need a way to settle those differences. You will need policies in place to protect each citizen, and you will need politicians of some sort to monitor, apply and enforce those policies. Unfortunately, that opens the door to politics. The problem, really, is not so much politics as politicians.

*The government behind the politics.

In a Republic, such as the United States, the people vote for representation. The person elected is expected to follow the will of the majority in his or her area of representation, whether that be at the federal, state, district, county, township or other level. The founders of this republic, set it up that way so as to limit the possibility of "mob rule" where the majority of voters could turn policy at will. The majority still counts, but does so more indirectly.

Whether the established government consists of a Republic, a Democracy, a Monarchy or some other form of government, it needs people at it's head to keep it running properly. Of course, in our utopia, each person would act appropriately and never let power, monitary gain or personal agenda corrupt his or her actions in behalf of the people he or she serves. In the United States, voters can send a clear message to corrupt politicians through their vote, even though they obviously do not always do so.

*The individual behind the politics.

Politics really breaks down at this level, regardless of the type of government. The individual has a responsibility to act on their freedoms, especially if he or she has the freedom to vote. The individual has a responsibility to monitor his or her politicians for ethics and stance. In other words, if the individual takes the time to become informed and then use his or her vote

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