When Politics Becomes Play

In: Political behavior, Band 1, Heft 4, S. 331-359

Abstract

The ways in which political systems & their members respond to social strains are little understood. When citizens are confronted by unfathomable problems or intense pressures, they often seek to suspend serious activities or escape rigid & alienating roles in order to attain psychological release, mutual involvement, & insights about their lives. Release, involvement, & insight are consequences of a universal human activity called play. People play for several reasons: to make room for personal expression in rigid social structures; to create & maintain the bounds necessary for community; & to generate the novelty, perspective, & invention necessary for social & political change. HA.