Social Consciousness

The Primary Forms of Social Consciousness

Political Consciousness

The issue of political consciousness has long captivated social scientists. During the Soviet era, it was addressed by O.K. Uledov in his monograph "The Structure of Social Consciousness." Nationwide sociological studies were dedicated to its exploration. At the same time, it should be noted that interest in this issue has markedly increased in the post-Soviet period. This is evidenced by a series of publications by N.A. Bukhteyev, P.A. Serhiyenko, Yu. Rudenko, N.P. Polivayeva, and many other authors. Various aspects of this problem have been the subject of dedicated chapters in textbooks and academic guides.

While converging in the view that political consciousness is a mediated reflection of political life, researchers understand its relationship with social consciousness in different ways. Some unambiguously recognize the existence of this connection and seek to examine political consciousness solely within that context. Others, however, attempt to investigate political consciousness independently of social consciousness.

Among the former are O.K. Uledov, already mentioned, most Soviet researchers, N.P. Polivayeva, and some contemporary authors. However, even among them, interpretations of the relationship between political consciousness and social consciousness vary. For example, O.K. Uledov considers political consciousness as one type of social consciousness alongside moral, religious, legal, aesthetic, and philosophical forms—thus treating "social consciousness" as a generic concept that acknowledges subordination. In contrast, N.P. Polivayeva does not see it necessary to do so.

She notes that the concept of "the political consciousness of society" is close to "social consciousness." It can be said that they are intricately intertwined yet do not fully coincide. They share a common object of reflection—society. Social consciousness represents a higher degree of abstraction, creating invariants that generalize and encapsulate only the most significant relationships and connections of practical activity; these relationships and connections take the form of laws, scientific theories, works of art, and so forth.

One can agree with this author to the extent that the concepts of "social consciousness" and "political consciousness" do not overlap. They cannot coincide, for the former denotes the totality of ideal forms (concepts, judgments, views, feelings, ideas, representations, theories) that encompass and reflect social existence, the aggregate of social relations produced by humanity in the process of mastering nature and social history. In contrast, "political consciousness" signifies one of the fundamental, integrating forms of social consciousness.

As such, political consciousness is characterized by a specific content. Unfortunately, in political literature, one occasionally encounters definitions of political consciousness that lack any indication of the essence of this phenomenon. For instance, the authors of the "Brief Political Dictionary," edited by L.A. Onikov and M.V. Myshlin, claim that political consciousness is "the awareness of the sphere of politics by social subjects." Given the existing ambiguity in the interpretation of the term "politics," this definition leaves the reader uncertain as to what precisely is being referred to and the essence of the phenomenon.

The authors of the "Political Encyclopedic Dictionary," published in Kyiv at the end of the 1990s, do not resolve this problem either, defining political consciousness as "a mediated reflection of the political life of society, the essence of which is the problem of power, the formation, development, and satisfaction of the interests and needs of political subjects." Indeed, while the power system occupies a significant place in the political life of society, it does not yet unveil the essence of the latter. Given that manifestations of power are diverse (existing at the level of the family, labor collectives, etc.), it remains unclear which power is being discussed.

Meanwhile, the essence of politics and political activity constitutes a specific relationship to the existing system of state structure. This, we believe, should primarily be included in the definition of political consciousness.

Furthermore, we often encounter attempts to narrow the interpretation of the content of political consciousness. For instance, A.S. Panarin virtually reduces it to political self-consciousness. This inclination is shared by B. Kukhta, L. Klymovska, A. Romaniuk, who assert that "political consciousness is the awareness of the subject (the individual-leader, the decision-maker) or macro- and micro-groups of their political interests, aspirations, and tendencies."

As we can see, these authors not only reduce political consciousness to self-awareness but also limit the understanding of the subject to those who make decisions. Consequently, individuals who do not belong to the category of leaders and do not make decisions cannot be counted among those subjects contributing to the formation of political consciousness. If we recall that these individuals constitute the vast majority of any given society, specific class, or smaller social group, we would have to acknowledge that only a very limited circle of people is recognized as subjects forming political consciousness, which does not reflect reality. Moreover, it would be erroneous to limit even political self-awareness to the subject's recognition of their political interests, aspirations, and tendencies, let alone political consciousness, of which it is a structural element.

Before unveiling the content of the term "political consciousness," it is necessary to clarify the opposing concept, which is "political existence." This can be conceived as one of the significant concepts of social philosophy for defining the totality of relations among social subjects concerning the system of state structure and governmental power that has developed within society.

From this standpoint, "political consciousness" should be regarded as a term in social philosophy denoting one of the fundamental structural elements of social consciousness, one of its integrating forms, wherein the process of forming subjective cognitive images of the state structure and governmental power—objectively inherent to a specific society at a particular stage of its historical development—occurs through the retention, preservation, and processing of information about them.

The proposed definition not only indicates the inseparable link between political consciousness and social consciousness but also underscores their subordination, highlighting that political consciousness is one of the structuring elements of social consciousness and, as such, possesses all the general characteristics inherent to social consciousness. At the same time, this definition emphasizes the specificity of political consciousness.

This specificity manifests primarily in the unique content of political consciousness, the foundation of which lies in the formation of subjective images of the state structure and governmental power objectively inherent to a specific society.

Given that the state structure focuses on the forms of ownership over tools and means of production that have developed within society—ultimately determining the character of economic relations and existence—it accounts for a particular aspect of political consciousness: its ability to serve, to some extent, as a form of reflection of the economy and, as a consequence, to be a connecting link between forms of social consciousness.

The reflection of the societal interests of various classes, smaller social groups, and strata within political consciousness serves as a crucial factor in shaping certain goals among social subjects that they seek to achieve in the course of their life activities. Thus, this characteristic of political consciousness positions it as a goal-setting consciousness, playing the most active role in the life of society.

The proposed definition of political consciousness allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the structure of the phenomenon denoted by this term, keeping in mind its multi-level nature and identifying key levels such as everyday political consciousness and theoretical political consciousness, political psychology, and political ideology.

Emerging from the everyday practical activities of individuals, everyday political consciousness is an empirical reflection of political existence. It represents an elementary form of political consciousness inherent in nearly every individual, regardless of their social class affiliation, political orientation, education, or upbringing. It manifests in vague, emotionally charged notions about the state structure, the system of governmental power, and their institutions, acquired through the direct influence of various political acts, decisions, mass media, works of art, film, and theater. This level of political consciousness finds expression in axioms, dogmas, postulates ("The state is us. The people are the source of power. Politics is the struggle between classes. Honesty is the best policy"), proverbs and sayings ("Every people has the government it deserves. Politics is societal morality, and morality is honest politics," etc.), and political anecdotes.

The second, higher level of political consciousness consists of theoretical political consciousness or political theory. This level concentrates on the exploration of essential, established, recurring, internal, objective, and necessary connections—i.e., laws—that determine the development of political processes and their specific manifestations, in other words, regularities.

Alongside everyday political consciousness lies political psychology, which encompasses the moods, thoughts, feelings, and value orientations within the political process formed in the everyday lives of individuals. A distinguishing feature of political psychology is that it is not the knowledge of political facts and situations in and of itself that plays a leading role; rather, it is the attitudes and evaluations toward that knowledge, the assessment of political processes and situations.

The highest level of political consciousness is political ideology—a collection of theoretically grounded ideas and views that express attitudes toward the existing system of state structure, governmental power, and their mutual changes, perceived as correct and necessary by the citizens of a specific society, formed by its social groups and strata, who participate in their practical realization to varying degrees.

In any class society, political ideology, like ideology in general, cannot exist, so to speak, in a "pure" form. It contains a scientific component, positions that adequately reflect political reality.