The concept of politics in Hannah Arendt

The study of Public Administration needs a politics study. Meanwhile, a vision of politics is based on basic philosophical ideas, like what is the best form of government or the more just political system. This is the responsibility of political philosophy, reflecting on these things, asking the same questions since Socrates and Plato. 

Hannah Arendt, german political theorist, has a special look about politics. She sees politics as the most perfect human activity, in which we get the excellence and the human condition. The public space, for Arendt, is place of liberty. The action and speech always start something new.

Arendt is thinking a world against totalitarian governments. Absolute power led men to the extreme in the concentration camps, almost to animality, and killed millions of people. They banned the political dimension of humans.

For Arendt it’s politics, language and living in community what distinguishes humans. She uses as an example the idea of politics of the ancient greeks. They met in the agora to discuss and talk about problems of the polis. In this space they were all same to participate, but different to express their point of view. However, was a slave city. Only a few participate in politics: the aristocrats. In addition, women and metics were excluded. This is the biggest problem of greek democracy and makes it impossible today.

However, Arendt opposed to representative democracy and prefers direct democracy, with citizens organized in assemblies, where everyone has a voice. Arendt books are calling to reclaim public space and exercise of politics. It is our mission to create a democracy based on participation, in the power of people and a new meaning of politics.