Norberto Bobbio (1909-2004) was one of the greatest polytologists of the 20th century. Among his extensive work, he left an important contribution to Political Science: his book General Theory of Politics: Political Philosophy and Lessons from the Classics. This text will try to lightly address some considerations about the concept of politics in this author's view.
The word politics it derives from politikós, from the Greek, and concerns what belongs to the city, the polis (in Ancient Greece), society, that is, what is in the interest of man as a citizen. In Ancient Greece, one of the first to treat politics as a practice intrinsic to men was Aristotle, with his book The politics.
Over time, the term politics ceased to have the meaning of an adjective (that which belongs to the city, society) and became a way of “knowing how to deal” with things in the city, in society. Thus, making politics can be associated with government and state administration actions. On the other hand, it would also concern the way in which civil society relates to the State itself.
But for Norberto Bobbio, talking about politics as a human practice leads, consequently, to thinking about the concept of power. Power would be linked to the idea of possession of the means to gain an advantage (or to assert the will) of one man over others. Thus, political power would refer to the power that a man can exercise over others, such as the relationship between the ruler and the ruled (people, society). However, when talking about political power, it is necessary to think about its legitimacy. We can have political powers legitimized for various reasons, such as tradition (father power, paternalistic), despotic (authoritarian, exercised by a king, a dictatorship) or that which is given by consensus, the latter being a model of government expected. The power exercised by the ruler in a democracy, for example, is given by the consensus of the people, of society. In the Brazilian case, the president's power is guaranteed because there is a consensus in society that authorizes it and, in addition, there is a Federal Constitution that formalizes and guarantees this consensus.
As shown by Norberto Bobbio (2000), there is a modern typology of forms of power, such as economic power, ideological power and political power, the latter being the one in which there is exclusivity for the use of strength. In Bobbio's words (ibid., p. 163). However, Norberto Bobbio also points out that it is not just the use of force, but its monopoly, its exclusivity, that has the consent of organized society. In other words, it will be an exclusivity of power that can be exercised over a given social group, in a given territory.
Another important aspect for Bobbio about politics is that its purpose or end cannot be summed up in just one aspect, because “[...] the ends of politics are as many as the goals to which an organized group sets itself, according to times and circumstances” (ibid., p. 167). However, a minimal end to politics (as a power of force) is the maintenance of public order and the defense of national integrity. This purpose is minimal to the realization of all other ends of political power. However, it is important to pay attention to the fact that political power cannot have power for the sake of power, otherwise it would be meaningless.
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Norberto Bobbio, quoting Carl Shmitt, also speaks of the idea of politics as a friend-enemy relationship, saying that “the field of origin and application of politics is antagonism, and its function would consist in the activity of aggregating and defending friends and disaggregating and fighting enemies” (ibidem, P. 170). In the debate of ideas to think about the social order, this opposition is fundamental, however, only this level of antagonism can be tolerated by the State, since the extreme division or conflict between those who make up a society could lead to chaos.
In the exercise of understanding the concept of politics, it should be considered that in modern political philosophy what is political is not necessarily coincides with the social, as, throughout history, other spheres of life have been separating from the State, such as the religious power and the economic. In Bobbio's view, politics is restricted to the sphere of the State, an institution responsible for the social order. For Bobbio, “while classical political philosophy is based on the study of the structure of the polis and its various historical or ideal forms, philosophy Post-classical politics is characterized by the continuous attempt to delimit what is political (Caesar's reign) in relation to what is not political (whether or not kingdom of God or the kingdom of riches), by a continuous reflection on what differentiates the sphere of politics from the sphere of non-political, the State from the non-State..." (ibid., p. 172).
The process of society's emancipation in the sense of its “functioning” without the presence of the State could lead to the end of politics as a coercive action for social cohesion. In other words, if society were able to maintain its order without political power (which uses force), it would no longer need the state.
In that same book, Bobbio also talks about the relationship between politics and morals, since both are linked to human action (praxis). However, what grounds or motivates, or what is permitted or prohibited, does not always have the same meaning for politics and for morality. According to Bobbio, there can be “moral actions that are impolitical (or apolitical) and political actions that are immoral (or amoral)” (ibidem, p. 174), a distinction that, by the way, was already present in the work of Nicolau Machiavelli. Thus, it would be necessary to consider that there are reasons and actions of the State that are justified when practiced by it, but never allowed to an individual. Politics would be the reason for the State, while morals would be the reason for the individual. Thus, it would be necessary to think about the autonomy of political action, which is motivated by reasons that are not the same as those of individual action.
In short, from this brief explanation of some aspects of the quoted work of Norberto Bobbio, it can be inferred that, in general terms, his position tries to understand politics as "an activity or set of activities that have, in some way, as a term of reference, the polis, that is, the State" (ibid., P. 160).
Paulo Silvino Ribeiro
Brazil School Collaborator
Bachelor in Social Sciences from UNICAMP - State University of Campinas
Master in Sociology from UNESP - São Paulo State University "Júlio de Mesquita Filho"
Doctoral Student in Sociology at UNICAMP - State University of Campinas