Politics and Imagination: Where Are Political Visions Born, and Why Does Society Need Them?

Statistics show that in 2020, almost 80% of Americans followed political news closely or very closely. The public’s interest in political news proves the importance of politics in the lives of individuals, countries, and the world. Paradoxically, political reality is intrinsically linked to the political imagination. Where, how and in what relationship do they intertwine, where are political visions born, and when does wild fantasy turn into populism? Dominykas Kaminskas, a PhD student in Political Science at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of VU, discussed the topic on the Vilnius University podcast “Mokslas Be Pamokslų.”

A narrative we relate to

“While politics limits the imagination, it acts as a tool to help the community define who we are in the political sphere. On the other hand, political imagination can be used to identify opponents or competitors. Finally, in politics, the imagination combines all these elements into a seamless narrative of our desires, visions, goals, and obstacles to achieving them. This shapes the narrative the community or a part thereof can relate to,” says D. Kaminskas.

For him, politics is essentially a game of ideas. By using these ideas, politicians can exploit them to attract support, mobilise voters, etc., not necessarily in a negative sense. It is those with big visions that can convince large groups of people. For example, Barack Obama, who came in his first term with the hopeful message Yes, We Can, managed to attract a large part of the citizens who, until then, had been disillusioned with politics.

In today’s context, the most prominent politician is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He offers a militant vision, proving that we will not give up our country. These political visions create a vivid and captivating image that is easy to identify with.

Imagination can also be a tool for manipulation

“So, when it comes to political visions that mobilise people, it takes more than promising to raise the minimum wage. They should be broader. Of course, these particular ideas are echoed by society groups who imagine earning a little more can change lives. But we are talking about more abstract political concepts: freedom, the welfare state, etc. Although we ourselves do not fully comprehend these concepts, we fill in the gaps by using our imagination. This way, we build a bigger vision of the welfare state with more details than just the minimum wage,” says D. Kaminskas.

The researcher recalls the Sąjūdis movement and its slogan Lithuania Will Be Free. At the time, freedom was just a figment of imagination. The people who gathered at the rallies had not seen a free Lithuania for a very long time or at all. However, seeing the examples of the Western world, they built up a compelling vision in their imagination, which spread throughout the community.

“Speaking of nations and how they identify with each other, Benedict Anderson has come up with a potent metaphor: he refers to nations as imagined communities. While we cannot go to a café and meet with the Lithuanian nation, we can identify with it, imagining that we are part of this large community. These figments of imagination help fill the gaps in political visions,” he explains.

There are many answers to whether the belief in these visions is sincere and whether they can become politicians’ tools for manipulation. It goes without saying that some politicians or parties will take the opportunity to say only what people want to hear, thereby securing votes. We can illustrate it by using the example of Cambridge Analytica data being used in the 2016 US presidential election campaign. The information gathered from social networks was used to influence different groups in society and thus win their votes in elections.

“On the other hand, when I look at current politicians, I also see they genuinely care. Let’s go back to the war in Ukraine, which has become a critical moment in the collective imagination. First of all, this event clearly separated us from our enemies. Second, in the face of war, it became apparent which side was telling the truth and which side was being insincere. The political discourse distinguishes between those genuinely concerned about the issue and those simply taking advantage of the situation to reap political dividends.

Where are political ideas born?

“On the one hand, grand projects work when politicians develop an interesting narrative. On the other hand, that narrative is put into motion, provided that it resonates with citizens’ beliefs and aspirations. In any case, every election brings bigger ideas for change. True leadership in politics happens when a politician offers the public something exciting - a vision of a better community that we support and want to achieve,” he believes.

According to him, the views toward the origins of political visions depend on the approach taken. The discourse approach, represented by researchers such as Ernesto Laclau or Chantal Mouffe, sees the individual as constructed by discourse. According to this conception, the individual’s free will is limited, and their political imagination is, in principle, determined by external factors.

However, D. Kaminskas leans towards the idea that the individual has free will and can rely on it. On the one hand, we are influenced by our environment, but it’s up to us to decide whether this is relevant to us. For example, well before the migrant crisis, in 2016, the Labour Party’s promised to keep migrants out of Lithuania in their Seimas election campaign. Having assessed the European context, the members of this party decided it was a good idea to promise the people who imagined migrants arriving to stop these flows. However, it turned out that the public’s perception did not coincide with the Labour Party’s vision, and the campaign flopped.

To summarise how political ideas are born, I should probably say that there is a link between how we see politics and what politicians propose.

Lithuanian politics is practical, yet visions lack courage

According to D. Kaminskas, assessing whether countries need bigger or smaller political visions is subjective. However, creating visions requires courage and ambition, which is vital for communities.

“In our case, even at the level of national strategies, I sometimes miss the courage to take on big visions in the Lithuanian political environment. I would like them to be more imaginative and wilder. What’s up with all the caution? We are hostages to historical circumstances, a young nation that finds it difficult to think in big chunks of time. On top of that, there are day-to-day hassles that also require resources. However, I still believe that, as in any other organisation, the State needs to take time to reflect on its strategic goals and visions,” says the political scientist.

In a modern liberal democracy, he said, politicians have to implement enough plans in four years to get re-elected. This is why pragmatism often outweighs idealism and seems to ground the imagination. In this case, it might be possible to propose that the parties agree on common guidelines, just as they agreed on common guidelines in the area of national defence a dozen years ago.

The practice of politics is significant, but alongside it, there must be a collective narrative that people can feel. For example, electricity prices are now on the rise, but there is a reason for that - a war. So we need to suck it up because there are people suffering more than we. This is a way to justify hardship in the short term for a better life in the long term.