A beginner’s guide to politics.

By Ellis Asher,

(Image Edited, Image by Unsplash)

The [redacted for privacy] politics section strives to be something that is simultaneously a valuable, relevant resource of valid information and also easy to understand for the average reader. Many people have strong opinions on how to make the world a better place but can see the world of politics as either boring, confusing or not for them.

So, in this article I would like to explain the basics of politics to the best of my ability so that we can have more, fully developed ideas in the[redacted for privacy] area.

We will start with leanings, most people have heard of left and right wing leanings, it will likely help to picture it as a line at first, left and right wings are a spectrum, on which lies a set of values.

The right wing will tend to favour tradition, capitalism and generally speaking tend to support free markets and more traditional values systems however as we will see later this isn’t always the case.

The Left wing tends to favour change, social justice, equality and generally believe that the market (companies) requires restrictions to benefit the people.

Seeing things as just Left and right however isn’t always an option, my favourite method of picturing political viewpoints is the political compass, where as well as the strait line from left to right there is also a vertical line, with the horizontal line representing economic policy leanings and the horizontal line representing leanings regarding the amount of government control. By adding another dimension we make room for more diverse political positions. As such I will be referring to it’s terms to define political leanings.

Examples of this include Right Wing Libertarians, who believe that the government should have less power over people’s lives and also believe the government should loosen both taxes and restrictions on companies. There is plenty of common ground to be found with both Left wing libertarians who believe in social justice and equality but also believe that the government needs to have its power reduced and common ground can also be found with more authoritarian right wingers who also believe the market should be less restricted.

It boils down to simply if people are in favour or against restrictions on companies (left and right) and if people value the individual or the collective (authoritarian and libertarian). This is an essential distinction else you could claim that both Stalin and Ghandi were alike or that The US is a ‘Far Right country'. Without this distinction between economic and social policy a political understanding can only go so far, for example someone can be very in favour of free markets and the individual and be considered ‘far right however these people would often be associated with the German National Socialist Party, of which they share no likeness and may be metaphorically further away from that ideology than some people who would consider themselves left wing.

Right wing parties in the UK include The Conservative Party and UKIP, whilst the Left Wing parties include The Labour Party and The Green Party. The 3rd largest party in the UK is the Liberal Democrats, or just the LibDems, they can change their stance frequently so it is best to see where they stand on issues you feel are important to you.

On election years, when each party competes to gain power the parties will often publish “party political broadcasts and publish a shiny new manifesto, all of these will be publicly available and are the most reliable tool to finding out who best suits your views. You should bear in mind that you don’t have to find a party and often you will not completely align with everything your chosen party says. This is generally a good indicator that you are a good independent thinker and you should keep doing what you are doing. Independent thinkers often go on to do good things as is evidenced by history.

Terminology is a big thing in politics and often people will use very complex words as over-complicated ways of describing something simple. These are terms like “progressivism” which is just a belief that society progresses through change, like reforms. There are also terms that are confusing such as “liberal”, as it takes so many meanings that it can be hard to tell which is which.

Whilst technically not left wing it is more often than not usually referring to a person who occupies both left wing and libertarian ideals, it used to mean someone who believes in individualism and free enterprise however it is coming to mean somebody who believes in individualism and progressive values. With so many terms for different groups in such a wide field, and one where there isn’t even consensus yet! It may seem daunting to enter the world of politics but if you have that feeling to make yourself heard.

If you think that you can make a difference and if you think your ideas are something worth sharing then politics may just be something you can enjoy, from debates to writing, or just casual observation, politics may be the place for you.

I hope that after reading this you better understand the basic building blocks that politics rests on, even if it is just to make casual dinner table conversation. The graph I used in this article is called “the political compass” and is a great tool for figuring out where you stand compared to other people. I would however like to add that politics is often seen as something divisive, to change this in future discussions please make sure you are using politics to better your own values, ideas and area rather than just for the sake of tribalism, by doing so you make the world a better place, bit by bit, and that is what politics is all about.