Politics and Law

The term ‘politics’ comes from a Greek word ‘Politika’ which means ‘affairs of the state’. Politics is a multidimensional word which includes making a group discussion,delegating powers among the groups,powers delegated among individuals,resource distribution among the people,looking after the welfare of the people. The branch of studying politics is known as political science. The term can be used both in positive and negative sense. In a positive sense,politics can be defined as serving the state, looking after the welfare of the society and taking responsibility of the people belonging to the society. The term has also been taken negatively sometimes when corruption gets involved. According to Winston Churchill,”Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business”. The purpose of having politics is to form new rules and to abide by them to run things as smoothly as possible. The rules are known as the laws. But the state does not run on laws alone. 

Laws are the rules written and passed by the authority of the state. In case of any violation of a law the courts and the police are given powers to take action against the person. The person may have to pay a certain fine or any other penalties including jail depending on the violations. Previously, laws were unwritten and was verbally decided by the leader of a group. But it did not hold a strong ground when someone breaches it and denies it later since there were no evidence of a written law. It was then, when the written laws were introduced by the leaders but the conflict remained. The leader was accused of making the laws to benefit a certain part of the society and not considering the welfare of all. To prevent this, the voting system was introduced along with the written laws which are presently being used. In this system, the written laws are voted by a group of people from the parliament who are elected by the people of the state. These written laws form a body known as the constitution that provides us with our fundamental rights and duties. “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.”~ by Winston Churchill. Everyone is given freedom to act accordingly staying within the rules. Anyone found acting otherwise is considered a violation against the constitution and actions are taken against them. 

Politics and law are mutually dependent on each other. Politics consists of three bodies, namely, ‘legislature’, ‘executive’ and ‘judiciary’. The legislature is the law-making body. Therefore law is a part of politics. Politics makes and remakes a law as is demanded by the situation. Without any law a society will go haywire. Harold Lasswell defined politics as who gets what(for example, resources), when does he gets it (in time of need) and how does he gets it. Bernard Crick added,”Politics is a distinctive form of rule whereby people act together through institutionalised procedures to resolve differences, to conciliate diverse interests and values and to make public policies in the pursuit of common purposes”.

Law, on the other hand, deals with different types of societal needs, such as international law, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, contract law, torts and delicts, property law, equity and trust etc. International law deals with the relationship between the nations, looking after the overseas business, capital and labour supply across borders. International laws can be made by the international organisations such as the United Nations, International Labour Organisation, the World Trade Organisation or the International Monetary Fund. Constitutional and administrative law deals with the affairs of the state. It helps with the relationship between legislature, executive, judiciary and the civil rights provided by the constitution. Criminal law deals with the crimes committed against the constitution. The punishment includes paying the fine, penalty or even going to jail. Contract law deals with the violation of different types of contracts and agreements. Property law deals with the violation of two types of properties. Real property, which is also known as the real estate, and personal property. Real property refers to the ownership of a land whereas personal property refers to movable objects or intangible rights.

Politics is always filled with two opposing things. Agreements and disagreements, cooperation and conflict, which matters to be resolved and which should be left out, who needs the resources and how to allocate them and so on. Politics is a social activity which depends on the response of both the authority of the state and the people they are serving. It depends on the crisis of the society and how to manage it. According to Franklin D. Roosevelt,” Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country”. Thus, politics deals with different sectors of society. Whereas law is a part of politics that helps keeping things going systematically.

In today’s world people from all over the world are suffering from insecurity. Corruption has taken over and increasing violence is what needs to be taken action against. Laws are made to help people in these crises. Otherwise, people would have taken things into their own hands and the society would have suffered. Laws are there to bring discipline to the system. As the days passes by there arises new crisis, new demands and simultaneously new laws are formed to help with the issues. Politics and law go hand in hand. We all need to contribute in order to run things easier. Corruption should be checked and we need to use our voices more than often, rather than getting violent. The authority of the state should look after their concerning society and together we can bring out a better world for us to live.