The social refers to the set of needs, feelings, values, beliefs, patterns of behavior and, especially, to the expectations of a social group. The political, on the other hand, is everything that is done or can be done with the intention of governing a social group or of obtaining the acceptance or endorsement of the people, with respect to an objective or project.
Politics, in terms of its praxis, is a set of strategies and resources arranged towards the achievement of objectives that impact a social group; the achievement of such objectives, therefore, requires the competition, acceptance and / or support of the people.
The political leader and his relationship with the people
A relationship is generated between a political leader and his followers, based on the ability to influence or on an offer of value or promise (on the part of the leader), and on the disposition of wills towards an objective or the expectations on the fulfillment of a promise (from followers). Every relationship generates expectations, and these become criteria of value and arguments of judgment. Value criteria, as they are used by followers to evaluate the leader, regarding his credibility and the possibility of trusting and continuing to trust him or her (as a person). And arguments of judgment, insofar as they serve to judge the management or the effectiveness of the leader (achievement of results). The successful political leader is one who correctly interprets the social, and from there develops his political action.If the politician acts against the expectations of the people, the safest thing to expect is failure. A leader or government team that imposes a proposal on a social group, regardless of whether it is desired or not by the majority, since it is ignoring the social and imposing the political on fragile bases.
The viability of the political project
Every project is oriented towards one or more predetermined objectives. When the objectives of a project affect people's performance or way of life, popular support is required as an essential condition. A project that is carried out without popular support can advance to "a point close to success", but at any moment a chain of effects can be generated that determines its fading, with more or less noise. A project "long-term in time" and that significantly impacts the way of life of people, when it lacks popular support, even the best advertising strategy or the most intelligent measures to "attract favorable wills" will not be enough to maintain it until its full realization, unless recourse is made to the repression or use of force,as it has happened in countries with totalitarian regimes. It is not enough to support the project on a solid platform of economic resources, with advertising campaigns or communication strategies. With all this, only effective actions are achieved, which give the false perception or illusion that the project is progressing successfully. The true or structural changes are only achieved through a coherent, disciplined and participatory construction process.disciplined and participatory.disciplined and participatory.
The political vs. Social
Erroneously, the political is placed above the social, ignoring that the social is part of human nature. Indeed, social dynamics is social behavior, and, therefore, results from the interaction of individual behaviors, which are based on attitudes, emotions, convictions and, especially, expectations. The social obeys laws, that is, relations of correspondence or mutual interaction between factors and conditions, these linked to the springs of human and social behavior. Politics, on the other hand, is a pure and simple human invention. If "political laws" are mentioned, they are sociological, or economic in nature. Regardless of the social or the economic, the political is an exercise in a vacuum. A political action will be sustainable in time only to the extent that it is aligned with the social. If the political does not respond effectively to the social, it will be divorced from reality. Aligning with the social means, in a special way,be able to meet collective expectations.
Society as a living entity
The last two decades of the 20th century have highlighted the revival of ideas and approaches that were previously overlooked or rejected. One of them is the organic vision of society, a classic approach from the 19th century that considered social behavior in the likeness of a living organism. Such ideas were rejected by both Marxist and structuralist sociologists; well, they were forgotten. But, in addition to the organic social approach, there has been a rebirth of the spiritual as a transcendent dimension of the human. Thus, authors such as Harmon Jacobs have stood out, with "The Vital Difference", a work that became a best seller in the early 1990s, which analyzes organizations with an organic approach and postulates concepts that have been adopted worldwide, such as "the vision ”or expression of the desired future,the vital center of the organization and the deployment of organizational energy. Authors of the stature of Peter Senge, from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), have generated very coherent theories about organizational learning and “smart organizations”. There is even talk of the “spirit of the organization”, and of the social dynamics activated by compensation mechanisms, among other things.
The social capacity to assimilate and respond: the power of convictions
Society does not respond immediately as a thinking collective. Things or facts, for example: the behavior of the ruling group, are happening in a society or social group, and over time, they are being interpreted, experienced and internalized by people. Then, they become evidence, signs that are the primeval phase of what will later become convictions that mobilize the social community. Example of convictions that could develop in a social group: "this government oppresses us", "these rulers are profiteers", "this government is leading us to ruin", "this government is surrounded by corrupt". If these convictions are consistently and continuously perceived by the social community as something harmful, as a threat,then feelings of nonconformity will be generated, cumulatively, as a latent reaction force.
Quantum physics, time and the social
Society, as we have seen, is not a construct or a simple concept. It is a living entity, capable of reacting as a collective to what threatens its well-being. Quantum theory is applicable beyond the realm of physics, and it tells us that the progressive accumulation of effects on a certain point will always be subject to limits (quantum limit). When convictions, one of the mobilizing springs of the social community, are supported by abundant evidence that shows that people's expectations have been frustrated, then a growing process of nonconformity is developing and demanding a historical change.
At this point, historical for politics and applicable to long-term processes, time becomes the main factor that plays against the ruling group or those responsible for the unwanted situation.
Using manipulative skills and resources to gain space of popular preference does not guarantee that people give up on their dreams or what has motivated them historically, given the promise of a supposedly happy future, and very particularly in a country where people have consolidated expectations, linked to the concepts of democratic participation, well-being, progress and freedom. Certainly, time becomes the main enemy of someone who opposes people's expectations. Given this perception, leaders usually panic, rush and perform desperate actions, speeding up the pace of change that favors their project, without taking into account that "faster, then will be slower", for opposing the law of gradual and cumulative growth,making the frog jump from the pot of hot water (see the metaphor of the boiled frog), as Peter Senge affirms in his well-known work "The Fifth Discipline". As a consequence, he falls into a situation that is well described with the “syndrome of the dog that wants to bite his tail”, turning around on himself, going backwards and moving forward to go back again.
Politically desired vs. Socially possible
An argument made against the sociological vision of the subordination of the political to the social, affirms that History reflects the opposite, that is, the subordination of the social to the political. But, concepts and culture evolve, transform. Examples of this are: the historical delegitimization of slavery and the change in the social value of women (from almost nil to very high). Although serious rapes and crimes have occurred in the past, reaching the height of horror in the Nazi Holocaust, the possibility of a reissue of such tragedies is almost unlikely today, at least in the systematic and permissive conditions that accompanied such events.
The possibility of occurrence of a socially shocking phenomenon depends on 4 conditions: 1. Have the resources (have with what); 2. Propitiation (that there are those who support or facilitate it); 3. Permissiveness (that the community or the majority and the legal framework allow); and 4. The time factor (the resource that always tends to “get out of hand”). Permissiveness is currently influenced by a high level of consciousness, shared by the majority, regarding the preeminence of human rights and the legitimization of the conditions for coexistence and human sustainability.. Regarding propitiation, there are today limitations derived from a new legal framework supported by institutional resources and supranational control mechanisms. The social, in terms of human rights, in the 20th century has been revalued and raised to an ethical dimension.
In such a way that the freedom of action of dictatorships is currently subject to limitations, which forces them to think, rethink and adjust their plans and strategies for social impact.
Politics, in its broadest sense, can no longer be defined as the art of governing or directing a social collective. It must be added that it must submit not only to legal legitimation, but also to moral legitimation. Politics can no longer simply be the adventure of a leading group. Trying it is still possible, but its probability of success is far from guaranteed.
