Political Consciousness, Content and Concept of Political Consciousness...

Political consciousness

This chapter contains material designed to examine in more detail the main components of the political system, namely, political consciousness (Figure 16).

Political consciousness is a reaction of subjects of political life to its events. It includes systematic ( ideology ) and everyday ( mass psychology) forms. Political ideology is a set of views expressing the interests and goals of political actors in the form of values ​​and programs of practical action. Sometimes it is called a theoretical consciousness, but this is not so, since the theory is engaged in the search for truth, and ideology is the justification of interests and values. Ideology is formed by representatives of the elite for distribution among the population. It includes judgments that justify the predominance of certain political interests and values ​​over others. Mass political psychology arises in the general public based on the experience of political life and consists of moods, expectations, attitudes and stereotypes.

The content and concept of political consciousness

The study of political consciousness in the political aspect is a concretization of the sociological approach, which considers consciousness within the framework of the functioning and development of the political system and the comprehension of the spiritual prerequisites of the activity of political subjects and institutions of power.

The content of political consciousness manifests itself in the form of political activity. Neither the economy nor the socio-class relations in themselves generate political feelings, ideas and views. Mail -

Fig. 16. The essence, content, specifics and functions of political consciousness

The political process at which they arise is the political reality. The process, in the course and on the basis of which various phenomena of political consciousness arise, are formed, develop and die, is political practice . Political reality, bringing to life relevant concepts and views, then itself acts as a form of their practical realization in the sense that people participate in political life, create practical politics, guided by certain ideas, ie. act consciously. "The policy is made by the head, and not by any other parts of the body and soul" (M. Weber).

Politics, political relations are part of social being. Accordingly, political consciousness acts as a reflection in people's spiritual life, and primarily of their political life: the whole diversity of political life, political processes and phenomena. At the same time, political consciousness is an attribute of political action, its indispensable constituent element. Politics is an expedient activity. It assumes that the acting subject has certain ideas about political reality, an awareness of his aspirations, the formulation of a goal, the choice of means and ways to achieve it.

The main question of people's attitude in the political sphere is the question of state power. Accordingly, this issue occupies a major place in the structure of political consciousness, because without its clarification there can be no question of conscious participation in politics. Equally important in the political consciousness is the problem of political interests of people who act as motivators of political action. At the same time, political consciousness reflects a much wider range of social phenomena. This follows from the very nature of politics. Political consciousness is awareness of the sphere of politics by social subjects (individuals, groups, communities). It acts as a set of knowledge about politics.

Political consciousness arises together with the emergence of statehood, political power - this is the most general category that characterizes the subjective side of politics. The political ideas of the ancient thinkers (Plato, Aristotle, etc.) substantiated the need for the state's public transformations and the system of norms of people's behavior in political space.

The content of political consciousness is manifested in the form of political activity. Thus, political practice is the basis for the emergence, development of political consciousness.

Political consciousness is formed in the process of people's knowledge of their relations in society and the objects and ways of realizing their needs determined by these relations. However, in the content of political consciousness, not all people's needs are expressed, but only those that are are mediated by political activity. The result of such mediation is political views, beliefs, attitudes in which individual and group motives are transformed into social and political motivations. Stimulate such a transformation of people's need to realize their mutual ties in society, determine their place in it, integrate into one or another social community (class, ethnos, nation).

So, political consciousness can be defined as a system of political knowledge, values ​​and beliefs of people, on the basis of which the most stable and significant political orientations and attitudes of people regarding the political system and their place in the system are developed.