Assignment No. 1
In global politics, there are critical issues that relate to an individual within a state. The issues include identity, obedience, religion, nationhood, nationality, or sovereignty, knowledge/media, territoriality, and migration. All these issues have to play a critical role in the existence of a sovereign state. In the existence of a nation or sovereign state, it matters a lot how an individual defines himself or herself. It is also critical to understand the role of the individual in the aspect of other society members. It is important to consider how an individual is defined from the perspective of others. The third bit is based on how others define themselves within the same society. This definition of an individual is known as determining identity (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 70-96). Through identity, citizens are able to know and execute their roles according to the guidance of the constitution. The role of identity is indispensable within the country and across the territorial boundaries hence, it is vital in the global politics orientation. This is because individuals adopt different identities to define who they are within the society.
Religion as a factor is an influence of the politics within the territorial boundaries of a nation and global field. Just like identity, different individuals subscribe to unique religious beliefs within the society. These beliefs help in defining the identity of a person from different perspective. Through religion, political affiliations are formed to help control the degree of politics within the region (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 97-122). These religious affiliations play significant role in determining the leadership of the nation. Politicians associate with these groups in order to acquire the majority support. In the process of defining an individual within the society, citizens learn the important ways to obey the rule of law. These guidelines are laid down in the form of constitutions to illustrate what is expected from individuals by the states. The role of obedience within the society is vital in creation of harmony existence among the citizens. When there is obedience, different religions and identities exist in the presence of peace. This relationship is significant in the development of global and internal politics. Through religion, citizens also learn to obey hence the existence of fruitful relationship (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 123-146).
Within the nation and across the borders, knowledge about the happenings is passed through different channels. The media informs the individuals on the social, political, and economical situation of the global world (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 147-169). In politics, the medium of knowledge is vital in transmission of information from politicians to their supporters. Religion also uses media to reach their followers. Media also offers identity to the individual. In order to control the influx of individuals in one sovereign state, nations adopt strict migration rules based on the identity. Citizens within a nation possess certain levels of identity that differentiate them from other people across the borders. Persons are only allowed to move across the borders based on the laid down migration rules. Nations are divided through well-defined boundaries in order to facilitate enhanced governance (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 170-191). The territorial boundaries are vital in developing identity of the sovereign states. The nations are defined through the territorial boundaries. Through the boundaries, migration is controlled (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 192-219). Global politics is defined by how the nation or state conducts its activities. The rules and regulations that define the actions within the country are vital to the economical, social, and political aspect of the global politics. The nation defines the identity of an individual, control the actions of media units, determine migration rules, and manage the religious groups within the territory (Edkins, Jenny, & Zehfuss, pg. 220-243).
Ways in which state power has been exaggerated and misunderstood
The state is entitled to controlling the territorial borders in the aspect of minimizing the movement of individuals across the borders. Management of territorial boundaries also prevents external invasion of the nations from other nations. This role by the states is always exaggerated in the fact that military agents are deployed at the borders just in case external invasion occurs. In most cases, invasions do not occur hence the effort by the states to control the borders become inapplicable. Migration rules are also vital from the fact that strict regulations are in place to control the movement of individuals across the borders. Despite the existence of these restrictions, people still find ways in moving across the borders to seek refuge in the housing nations. The strict rules of migrations are always misunderstood for discrimination against the deprived individuals or the migrants. These individuals feel that their rights are limited through the rules.
The sovereign states adopts methods in which the obedience and loyalty is achieved from the citizens. These are always achieved using constitution and by rules enacted by the legislative arm of the government. In extreme cases, jail terms are adopted to instill obedience and loyalty to the state. This act by the government is always confused for oppression in some cases. The citizens feel their rights as human are exploited through adverse conditions in jail sentences. The powers of states are also exaggerated when extreme rules are applied to control the actions of mass media within the region. In scenarios where the government controls what is aired, the right to accurate information is limited. The act of controlling media agencies is termed as misuse of state powers hence always exaggerated.
Work Cited
Edkins, Jenny, and Maja Zehfuss. Global Politics: A New Introduction. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.
