The Political Impact of Social Change and How Social Communities Shape the Environment

Social change is a fact of human societies, continually transforming and reshaping the political terrain. The social change process is a multidimensional phenomenon activated by multiple interactions. Change can derive from several sources including technology and development, historical culture, and demographic changes. None of these compared to the change in political processes as social communities formed around shared interests, values, or spatial proximity that drive social change and thus influence political processes and outcomes. The discussion of the political impact of social change and how social communities develop the environment will feat case studies of historic and contemporary material that underscore the relationship between society, politics, and the environment.

 The Nature of Social Change

Social change incorporates the processes of variation of a social structure, systems of behavior, norms and values, and culture over the period of social time. These forms of change can be spontaneous or gradual developments, and patterns of change occur in respect of various features of social life in aspects of culture; economics; politics; and the environment. Social change processes are typically based on a mix of interior and exterior forces including aspects of technology, economic changes/development, population change, and environmental changes or landscape.

 When considering social changes, an important aspect is how social change interacts with political processes. Generally, political systems and institutions both construct and respond to social change. For example, technology can shift an economy or sectors of the economy which could in turn shift power dynamics of the political systems and potentially the governance structure of the political processes. The change in social values could lead to sociological shifts in society directed toward gender equality or some form of consciousness about environmental sustainability and become prioritized issues in political agendas.

 Political Repercussions of Social Change

1. Alterations in Political Ideologies

Social change frequently effects alterations in political ideologies. Political ideologies often arise from the thoughts, beliefs, and values that people have which often develop and are enriched by the changes brought about by social change. The social and economic changes resulting from the Industrial Revolution shaped political ideologies such as socialism, liberalism, and conservativism. Each political ideology derived from the changing economic changes and each ideology presented a unique default on how to structure and govern society. Similarly, these changes instigated modifications of political ideologies before and after the Industrial Revolution.

 Social movements are important mechanisms in altering political ideology. Feminism, the civil rights movement, and the environmental movement are several examples of movements that contributed to initiating political ideologies modifying the existing mix of power and introducing new political ideologies advocating social justice and equality.

 2. Policy Changes and Legal Changes

Social change often engenders legal changes to the political system; these changes occurred as a response to the change creating social demand. The women's suffrage movement, for example, engendered legal changes around women's rights to vote in the early 1900s around the world. Similarly, the civil rights movement showed the example of a political ideology when it requested the end of segregation (Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965) to support another political ideology of racial equality.

 More contemporary social changes have also engendered policy changes, or in some instances proposed change requested to change alternative social changes such as environmental sustainability. Once human awareness started to increase regarding climate change and destruction of the environment, many countries began to establish policies pro-sustainability, for example, by limiting carbon emissions based and/or establishing energy sources that reduce carbon emissions based on political ideals that human action caused the social change. Social changes generally appear as a restructuring of the

Metamorphoses in Political Institutions

These metamorphoses in political institutions can also come from social change. Political institutions often need to adapt to social changes. We are seeing a trend where social media is becoming an institutional form for political communication. Social media has changed how political campaigns are conducted and has provided new ways of participating in political activities. Media organizations in traditional newspaper journalism have also been disrupted/disrupted, by new digital forms providing greater political activism.

In turn, social change may also create a redistribution of political power.  As community members become more organized, there is often a demand for more decision-making in their communities, or greater local autonomy. This is often accompanied by demands for local political autonomy, which means that political power has been devolved from the state to local regional political units of a state, as there is currently a process of devolving political authority to regional provincial units within a state, as one can often see occurring in the United Kingdom where Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have gained some political authority from the governmental unit of the UK.