The System Of Social And Political Life In Democracies

1. Man is social being
2. Human groups
3. Human settlements
4. Individual and society
5. Individual and the State
6. Obligations and facilities of citizenship
7. Social atomism

There are number of social sciences. These social sciences cover different aspects of man’s activity. The mother science of all these activities is called ‘Sociology’ which is the science of human society as a whole. Society is made up of all social being performs numerous activities to survive and flourish or to help the social beings to survive and flourish. These activities may be economic or political. These may also be related to his moral action.

The knowledge which relates to any of the activities of human beings is known as a social science.

The activities relating to statecraft are known as political activities. The knowledge which covers various aspects (theoretical or practical) of political activities is known as Political Science.

Political science is a because, like all other sciences, it has its broad rules and regulation, general laws and general principles. These rules, laws and principles are like the guidelines of certain definite activities or actions.

Since the earliest times, man is known to have lived in society. Even when he was not so civilized, he lived in the company of his fellow beings whether his society started with his family, tribe, group or a combination of them.

Plato said that society is essential for life while Aristotle improved on this expression by saying that society is essential for good life. Without society, it is impossible for humans to have the basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter. Society was needed even by the primitive people. Their dependence on society went on gradually increasing with time so that, in due course, they gave up their nomadic life and started living a family life.

Once man learned to live in effective social groups he became superior to all beasts, but his dependence on the uncontrolled bounty of nature limited his chances of survival. Hunting wild animal and gathering wild vegetable foods could support about one human being per 10 square miles of territory, and even this small population was often threatened by droughts and the natural disasters. The situation changed abruptly when groups of men living in favoured parts of the earth entered a stage of communal living. They made certain plants and animal, part of the human groups, establishing a symbiotic relationship. That, is these people became farmers and herdsmen.

Symbiosis with plants and animals gave social man a large and dependable food supply and started him towards developing his higher civilizations. But it placed new demands on cooperative effort and required communities more highly organized than those of hunters. The result was diversity of human grouping. People began to live in several different kinds of associations, each characterized by behaviour pattern related to its size, to meet the varied needs imposed by agriculture and, later, by industry. The types of human communities now so familiar around the world quickly evolved.

The knowledge relating to politics makes up one of the social sciences like that of other social sciences – economics, philosophy, psychology, etc. It is, however, not an exact science because no science which deals with the behaviour of human beings can be declared exact. A human being and his mind are vast vistas of different thought. A human mind seldom has a single track to follow. It is full of all complexities. No general line or graph can be draw to express its ideas. That, however, does not mean that the knowledge relating to political science should not be classified as a science. It has all the logic, system and other characteristics of the scientific study of specialized branch of human knowledge and fully deserves the tittle of science.

An individual and his/her society are interdependent and essential for each other’s existence. The problem that has haunted philosophers is whether the society has any right to regulate an individual’s conduct and behaviour, or allow the individual to have free expression and action. It has been rightly observed that man is a social animal not only by sheer necessity, right from the day he sees the light of this world till his death. Even before his birth an individual needs a society to facilities his healthy arrival and sordial welcome to the fold of humanity.

State is the most important political institution of society that looks after the material and spiritual interests of its individuals.

Each nation-state today adopts what is called a ‘constitution’ to regulate the behaviour and activity of most of its nationals. Sometimes called the “basic law of society” the constitution describes the fundamental responsibilities of the state in regard to the functioning of the society as a whole. It establishes the form of government at the centre, in the regions, districts and villages in the country for its governance. It also prescribes the outlines of powers and privileges of different wings (executive, legislature and judiciary) of the government together with the mutual relationship among them. It enumerates the basic objectives which govern the formulation of policies and programmes of the for the good of its individual citizens. The constitution also lays down the basic rules to regulate the behaviour of individuals among themselves and towards the state and society.

The basic law of a society very often puts limitations on the liberty of the citizens of the state and prevents them from harming the interests of other individuals for selfish gain, either by exploitation, economic or social or by material or physical injury.

In return for this restraint on his liberty, the state gives to the individual numerous facilities of citizenship. These facilities include the right to vote and elect political leaders at different levels, enjoy the social benefits of corporate living like the amenities of cheap drinking water, street sanitation, electricity, roads, public transport, security of life, medical care etc., as well as the right to individual belongings and working opportunity based on merit and capability. In recent decades the state has expanded its role in society with a view to serve its citizens with more and more material and spiritual benefits arising from mutual cooperation. This has made the life of individual, and thereby of societies, more comfortable, interesting and purposeful.

In recent societies, the idea of social atomism has come up. According to atomists, a social atom is an invisible unit of society and the whole society is made up of such social atoms or living units. The social atom is essential for the whole society and the society is essential for the very existence of its social atoms.

Political science is fundamentally linked to the stage of social evolution or revolution of a community, or a nation-state. It is also linked to a territorial region and/or how it fits in the world as a whole. What activities of a man constitute political action? In what way and to what extent does the political action exercise its influence on the life of a person or a body of persons or a body of persons in an area or a region? The answers to these questions depend upon the stage of socio-economic progress the community has reached, its cultural background and ground and current social objectives. Taking the example of Pakistan, the scope of political activity and political institutions in this area prior to attainment of independence were absolutely different from what it is today. If we to make a survey of the constitutional and political march of events from the days of the East India company, via the Regulating Act of 1773, up to the passage of the Independence Act in 1947, we will find how the political activities of a country or a state change with time and circumstances. Anew chapter in the political advancement of the country began with the advent of independence. It led to the formulation and growth of the constitution of the country as it obtains today.

Thus, it may be observed, that political institutions of a community or a state derive their origin and source of developments of its historical or traditional background. They are based on the forces of change – social, economic, and political – that functioned in the past, are function today, or will function in the future.