Introduction
Political violence is a concept that involves defying the existing political systems, orders, and principles and seeking the implementation of policies that address the needs of the dissenting groups. Political violence occurs in the forms of protests, coups, pogroms, and ethnic cleansing. The study of political violence has gained a significant interest due to the high number of violent political activities that have taken place over the decades such as violence against Apartheid in South Africa and the civil war in Libya which culminated in overthrowing of Muammar Gaddafi. The legitimacy of the use of violence as a means of addressing a political issue has resulted into the need to examine the roles of violence in a political system and its impact in enabling the achievement of democracy in a country ( Dean, 2005) . This paper examines the roles of violence in a political system, the circumstances under which violence may be resorted to in a political system, the methods in which institutions may use violence and involve the communities, and lastly the impact of value judgment on the legitimacy of violence in a political system.
Roles of Violence in a political System
Violence has been used in many political systems because it plays an important role in restoring democratic decision making and management of political institutions and countries. Violence has been used by political groups to increase the fairness in decision making in political institutions and promotion of the practices that enhance accountability in the use of public resources such as taxes and their allocation for different economic needs within a particular department of the government ( Balcells & Ruiz, 2015) .
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Violence also plays a significant role in addressing political and economic inequality in institutions because political leaders may be forced to avoid partisan decision making in order to address the specific needs of the people who are involved in violent protests, riots, or civil wars. In this case, violence enables understanding the displeasure of the public with the dictatorial form of leadership, limited access to opportunities, and lack of inclusivity of diverse groups. In this case, violence is regarded as the best approach for expression of displeasure with the unfair management of public institutions and promotion of democracy in a country ( Jackson, 2002) . In the United States, there have been political protests by women and other minority groups as a measure of promoting their inclusion on political positions in the same manner as male citizens. The nature of institutions is a major determining factor whether violence will occur. If institutions are extractive in nature, there is a high probability of violence due to the tendency of people to seek their share of the pie in a context where the state is inappropriately using products that are generated.
When Violence is Likely to be Resorted Into and Why It Might Succeed
Political violence may occur when there is a particular regime in government which is subjecting people to exclusion from government benefits such as the allocation of funds for needs such as health, sanitation, amenities, institutions and infrastructure in an equitable manner. If there exist factions of the political system whose needs are not adequately addressed, they may resort to violent activities such as riots and protests in order to seek justice in the access to different needs within the responsibility of the government (Richard, 2002). This process of involvement in a political violence may be successful because it will increase the awareness of political institutions such as government agencies to understand their ineffectiveness in addressing the needs of the people and making reforms to policies in the manner in which resources are allocated to address the needs of the citizens in an equitable manner. Most political protests that oppose ineffective allocation of resources have resulted in the fair provision of infrastructural services as well as well as addressing the needs of people who are not provided with access to transport, communication, and government services.
In some cases, violence may be resorted into when an existing political regime implements laws that marginalize particular groups such as the minority individuals while providing protection for the majority groups such as those who are majorly represented in government departments. When the violence of this form occurs, there is a high likelihood that people are able to be provided with legislations that address their needs in an equitable manner (Henderson & Singer, 2000). For instance, laws can be reformed to incorporate the minority groups in political positions while laws can be amended to incorporate the needs of the entire groups of people. It can also result in a replacement of a political regime with a new regime because the civil unrest can cause increased instability of a country in a manner that most economic activities are negatively affected.
There is a likelihood that violence may be resorted into when there is a lack of security while the responsible government agency is not willing to take action to address the situation. If there is increased emergence of gang groups and terrorist acts against residents of a particular location, then violent protests among the resident, civil society groups and politicians may be necessary.
Why Violence is sometimes Necessary
Violence may sometimes be necessary when there are institutional problems that require different approaches such as mobilization of the community to protest against the services provided to the public. This is based on the fact that most political institutions are set up for the purpose of legislating policies on how the needs of people such as health, water availability, security, food, and law and order are addressed ( Carreras, 2013) . If there is a lack of satisfaction of the public with the procedures followed in their mandate, violence may be necessary. For instance, if the electoral umpire is ineffective in educating voters on the activities they need to undertake during voting exercises, the associated stakeholders such as political parties, civil society groups, individual politicians, and the public may be involved in protest activities that oppose their involvement in the inadequate education of voters.
If the institutions responsible for the enactment of justice by indicting politicians who have been involved in practices such as electoral violence in the past while they are still in office, civil rights groups, other politicians and the public can participate in violent protests that oppose acts of impunity in the manner in which perpetrators of violence are held accountable ( Dunning, 2011) . The protests can also be made in opposition of the ineffectiveness of the justice system in addressing the accountability of politicians who have been involved in political irregularities.
When government institutions are set up and the needs of the youths such as unemployment are not adequately addressed, there may be political protests in order to address the situation. Protests will also be made against politicians who take advantage of unemployed youths to provide them with campaign services without any major benefit to them ( Ikelegbe, 2001) .
Violence may be necessary when there is a state of increased incidences of corruption in government departments such as inadequate allocation of funds to address the health care system, improvement of transport and communication, lack of security, inadequate support for business and agricultural activities while funds have been provided by the central government to address these issues. The main objective of violent protests will be to promote taking action on the government officials by holding them accountable for their role in promoting misuse of funds for personal benefits ( Dean, 2005) . Violent protests may also be recommended in a situation where there is a lack of internal democracy in decision making with some members of a government institution being allocated more decision making powers compared with their colleagues. This may be mainly necessary when the members of an institution are representatives of different diverse groups such as ethnicity, race, gender, or geographical location.
Impact of Value Judgment on the Legitimacy of Violence in a Political System
Value Judgment of different forms of political violence shows that they can contribute to the addition of values in the society as well as in the government departments. Political violence in form of protests ensures a dictatorial regime of government is prevented from implementing authoritative policies and promotion of policies that advocate for the consideration of the needs of the people in general ( Balcells & Ruiz, 2015) . Political violence can be of value to the society because it promotes active involvement of the government in the sectors of the economy that had been inadequately attended to as well as improving the provision of services such as amenities and housing services. Furthermore, there is value due to the implementation of political violence as it will result in the inclusion of diversity in the appointment of people in political positions and government institutions. With the incorporation of diversity in most institutions, decisions will be made which address the needs of people of different ages, gender, ethnicity, geographical locations, and religious beliefs. The most affected demographic groups in most government institutions have been the youth and women ( Jackson, 2002) . The act of engaging in violent protest can also result in value creation for them because they can be represented in political institutions where they can get similar benefits as other demographic groups.
Corruption in public institutions is a major challenge affecting most political organizations because most people engage in the embezzlement of funds and misuse of their political positions for personal benefits such as appointing their kinsmen to political positions at the expenses of the majority. Value can be created when violent protests have been staged to advocate for equity in access to funds, effective use of funds for development purposes, and improvement of living conditions of residents of a particular geographical location or a country. Furthermore, most political institutions such as political parties do not have effective internal democracy with few individuals having most decision making powers in the context of the areas in which resources need to be allocated, the acquisition of political and leadership position, and operational management of routine activities. Value addition is likely to occur when politicians who are not fairly represented in their organizations protest that they should be represented. This can result in their needs being put into consideration and they can benefit from increased pay, the assumption of political positions, and the ability to make decisions.
References
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