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November 06, 2026, 04:30:08 PM |
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POLITICS AND INTEREST
According to Harold Lasswell, Politics is "Who gets what, when and how." According to him, politics is the study of the distribution of resources and power in society:
WHO: The actors involved—such as political leaders, elites, interest groups, and ordinary citizens. You can even replace them with names of individuals from community, ward, Local Government Area, States and Federal levels as it were today in Nigeria.
WHAT: The valued goods and resources being distributed; money, rights, public services, jobs, and laws.
WHEN: The timing or priority of when different groups receive or miss out on these resources.
HOW: The methods, rules, or mechanisms used to make these decisions (such as elections, legislation, bargaining, or force).
Here, Lasswell agrees completely with the famous Economist Lionel Robbins, who said "Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." Back to Lasswell, because resources like money, land, Jobs and power are limited, politics is the competitive process of deciding how those rewards and burdens are shared among people EQUITABLY without constant VIOLENCE.
To successfully achieve the original purpose of politics as postulated by Harold Lasswell and the Economist Robbins, one must accept to align and re-align when necessary without so much Violence. Sometimes this process involves agreements and disagreements.
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