Violence as Ways to Bring About Political Change

Humans have resorted to violence for hundreds of thousands of years. Whether violence occurs because of certain changes to an existing system or disagreements within a community, governments try to use violence in a socially acceptable manner. Political structures were brought into various societies to help resolve conflicts among people, however these highly complex systems have not been completely successful. This is partly due to the fact that politics and violence have a direct relationship. In this paper the different roles of violence, within a political system to invoke changes and maintain order within a nation, will be examined. Specifically I will discuss when violence may be resorted to and when it may be successful.

Violence in general, is interpreted differently by various groups of people. Different cultures, and ethnicities may define violence differently based on their own values, and judgement. Each nation has different laws outlining what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. This variation on what constitutes as right and wrong, makes defining violence a complex task. According to Krug (2002), “Violence is the intentional use of force or power, threatened or actual against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a likelihood of resulting in injury or death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation” (p. 13). This explanation covers most aspects of what is considered violence in most modern societies, however the fact that some countries possess inconsistent opinions as to what violence is, needs to be taken into account.

When thinking about violence and the gruesome nature surrounding it, we find it hard to understand why p...

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