How politics enters biology

Politics is the management of society and the discussion of that management. It is about the allocation of power, and of information. Few people are distrusted as much as politicians, but even if we want to ignore politics, we must admit that society's decision makers have some impact on our lives.

Perhaps it seems obvious that disagreement and rebellion are fundamental to a proper society. Actually this is a much disputed idea. The mid-twentieth-century fascist governments of Spain, Italy and Germany did not tolerate disagreement from their citizens. When fascist governments suppress demonstrations and opposition rallies they justify themselves by speaking of the threat to society. A government that decides it has discovered the right path for society, and will not listen to anyone else, quickly removes ‘the right to free association’. Opponents are not opposed by argument; they are redefined as ill, or mad, or enemies of the state. Such governments, whenever they emerge, are condemned by democratic countries for suppressing debate. Of course, it is easy to argue that many politicians in democratic countries also manipulate debate to their own ends: propaganda, ‘spin’ and nepotism are simply sophisticated ways of stifling head-to-head argument. These tricks by those in power are harmful because they anaesthetise politics. Politicians will not bother to argue if they know in advance that they cannot lose.

Yet in spite of the defensiveness and cynicism of modern politicians, their's is a profession highly sensitive to the world of ideas.