Hi Folks,
Just for the purpose of this article, I refer to the notion of Power here as
"degree of popular support" and the "ability to maintain stability and cope
with opposition", and the notion of Politics as the "ability to mobilize".
This is only to limit my scope of analysis.
Hypothetically, I wish to suggest a three-factor relationship between the
two components: 1) a strong Power base and a weak Poiltical base; 2) a weak
Power base and a strong Political base; 3) a strong Power base and a strong
Political base. Arbitrarily, I conclude that no society exists which could
be categorized as having a weak Power base and a weak Political base. My
supposition is to propose that before any viable, rewarding and long lasting
stability and security is established, power and politics have to be at par,
hence the third-factor connection. In what follows, I will try to visualize
to dissect an imaginary society that may exhibit features of any one of the
forementioned propositions. I leave to the reader for a further indepth
analysis on each one of them.
A strong Power base and a weak Political base. To chart the ever turbulent
and shaky course of time into the future, it is always prudent to
retrospect. The rationale, amongst other facts, is to enable one to avoid
repeating the mistakes of the past. I make a particular reference here,
therefore, for our studies, to the forces that ousted the late ex-President
Marcos from power in the Philippines. It was basically "peoples' power".
Marcos had a very repressive regime but couldn't survive the social
mobilization activism of the citizens. In Mecca, about 1400 years ago, the
political prowess of Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W) ultimately defeated the all
too entrenched power base of his infidel brothers and sisters. The declared
greatest military power in history couldn't in the 1960s overwhelm the
collective will of a small post-colonial Asian nation that was seeking its
autonomy. A conflictual relation between power and poiltics therefore
reveals that, as defined in this context, victory is always for the latter.
What society needs,therefore, is to facilitate to create a situation that
will enhance a balanced interactive relationship between the two for
stability, peace, progress and development. A pradigm shift seems to have
occured that suggests that the fundamental foundations of political
philosophy requires that institutions must accommodate in a prosperous way
to satisfy certain inherent and universal human needs. A persons ontological
needs of identity, association, free will and developmental needs can never
ever be frustrated.
A weak Power base and a strong Political base. Again, a society built on
such pillars can only lose vitality in the agony of infirmity, feebleness,
unprogressiveness and stagnation. The ease with which Africans and Asians
were subjected to colonial domination speaks about thier lack of poiltical
maturity. Imagine, if it were not for the firm political structure and
political resoluteness and astuteness of America and President Clinton
respectively, Monicagate would have spiralled USA into abysmal oblivion,
regardless of Bill's record level popularity rate. One thing that greased
the American shock absorber at this particular time, could have been a
mixture of a strong Power and Political bases. It is slightly different with
the plight of a billion Muslims in the world today. One voice, one identity,
one religion and one big following but lack of a genuine power base denies
them the opportunity to articulate their ideals and aspirations. Turkey, at
the early part of this century, witnessed the eradication of the last
Islamic State on the World Map as a result of a weak power base. The
bottomline is, a large following or the ability to mobilize a large
following, is just not enough to supervise any progress, development and
even stability.
A strong Power base and a strong Political base. This is what the components
of the structures of what may constitute my ideal type of society. The
overall thrust of the argument of the article is that, those in power should
be conscious of needs arising from the forces of society; should be aware of
the glaring fact that strengthening of state apparatus without a concomitant
empowering of the masses can only invite retrogression, humiliation,
instability, frailty and disillusion; that, on the other hand, banking on
only a large following with a fragile power base is as good as being lost in
the middle of the desert not knowing which direction to follow.
High time we woke up and looked at the coffee rather than copying blindly
and not understanding the intricacies of similarities and differences. God
blesses us all.
Cheer
Alieu
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