Introduction
Nowadays, we depend on many kinds of political decisions. Nations are moved by presidents and politicians, and those nations depend on political elements. They have to be cautious when they decide something. If they made the wrong decision at first, one problem could lead to another, much like a domino effect. So, we could predict that if a false order were to occur, that could be the beginning of war or national discord. Moreover, politics does not only exist in the workplaces of politicians or in the White House. Political elements exist in our lives. For instance, if some group were to decide on a place to travel to, they would have to vote to decide on their travel destination. So, they would decide the place based on the majority decision. They would accept the majority vote, and before the vote, they must think about different probabilities and the number of cases to make the best decision. However, this could only involve a private situation. In a public situation, however, it could be explained in a very hard way because it is such a complex system to understand. It is also divided in many different ways. We have to understand the system of politics involving low and high politics.
What is the meaning of low and high politics?
When a case occurs and people need to make a million kinds of decisions, something has to take the back seat or something has to make an arrangement. It is a governing reality. So, how could we decide which matters are the most important?
One classical way to answer it is to divide state cases into high and low politics. High politics are those that are necessary for survival. This includes issues involving national security, the military, and diplomacy.
Otherwise, issues that aren’t necessary for survival are considered low politics. Broadly, this includes social and economic concerns related to most private issues. It is the difference between survival matters and administrative matters.
Low politics allows the state to act, but if some things go the wrong way, we don’t expect enemy command to directly destroy the country. So, low political matters take a back seat to national security concerns.
Characteristics of Low Politics
What are the characteristics of low politics? It is the same strict set of common traits we see in low political issues.
For example, low political tendencies include domestic matters. If it’s something that can be commended inside without having to collaborate with people or foreign governments at all, then it’s low political elements. International cases could be part of low politics, for instance, global finance. However, the fact remains that nearly all private cases are involved in this category.
Moreover, low-level political elements are rarely controlled directly by the top people, for instance, the president, prime minister, other politicians, etc. Their cabinets deal with international negotiations, making alliances and dominating national security. They delegate economic and social elements to governmental administrators. Since national directors tend to put their efforts into high politics first, low politics can be controlled by other trusted governing staff.
But how can we see low politics in real life? The job markets, the economy, framework development, education, healthcare, arts programs, and the environment are all elements of how politics in modern societies works.
The Emphasis of Low Politics
The difference of opinion between high and low politics sets up an urgent contrast, and the assumption is that high acceptance means that high politics must be better or more important than low politics. While the categorization does accentuate making high politics an arrangement, by no means can we say that low politics is unessential.
For starters, low politics covers all of the day-by-day actions of governance and authority that keep a country operating. If you want roads to be modified, schools to be built, and grocery stores to be staffed, then you need low politics.
In broader terms, however, an increasing number of national leaders are beginning to recognize low politics as an important component of international relations. Since high politics combines the issues that most nations take seriously during compromise and negotiations, it can be a hard place to grasp accommodation.
By contrast, low politics attempts countless attitudes in society where combative countries can start arrangements. However, issues of low politics have been accepted to be great places to open dialogs about concerted solutions since these issues are commonly less sensitive and tensions around them are also lower. Then, by starting with small accommodations, countries can begin working together on the biggest problems.
Are Low Politics really “low” in significance?
The rising applicability of low politics in international solutions and relations raises the question of whether low politics is still low nowadays. This issue is still seen as a secondary preference, and that is a major issue in our world, particularly with the arrival of economic globalism.
Some researchers say that international trade and economic assimilation are now the most important elements in international relations. If it is true, then low politics determines more about how the world collaborates than high politics.
The economy is an obvious area where we see the high/low difference of opinion challenged, so it’s not the only one. Some researchers claim that healthcare is another issue about to cross this verge, becoming a private element by which states are decided on the international scene.
Others claim some environmental issues requiring harmonious solutions have crossed the divide between low and high politics. Still, other researchers say that cultural, artistic, and other social issues are becoming elements of international politics as digital communications technologies open lines of collaboration between people around the globe. For a few decades, social media could be a bigger part of national security than formal alliances.
Conclusion
In traditional ideas about the organization of governments, low politics is an issue that isn’t necessary for survival that includes another thing. Low politics is a regular elements of private administration. However, low politics is more common in our lives. Its major characteristic is that it is more private than high politics. We have to understand more correctly how low politics could operate in our society and what condition we would be in in case we joined low politics.
References
Dent, C. (2017). ADBI Working Paper Series EAST ASIAN INTEGRATION TOWARDS AN EAST ASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY Asian Development Bank Institute. [online] Available at: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/228896/adbi-wp665.pdf [Accessed 3 October 2022].
Phanprasit, P. (2010). Do you agree that in the post-Cold War world ‘low politics’ have become ‘high politics’? [online] E-International Relations. Available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2010/12/01/do-you-agree-that-in-the-post-cold-war-world- [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Ripsman, N. (2006). FALSE DICHOTOMIES: WHY ECONOMICS IS HIGH POLITICS. [online] Available at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/22143/Ripsman.pdf [Accessed 11 October 2022].
