Religion and politics are not two separate areas of human action, but interdependent aspects of societal communication processes. Authority and political action gain legitimacy through religion, and conversely, political interests are shaped by religious ideas and practices. Religions aim to make the essence behind the phenomena of the world visible in worship and to interpret it through symbolic expression and systematic teachings. These symbols and interpretations influence individual and societal ways of life. Through social design processes, religion is translated into political practice and is often instrumentalized. It is only since the European and American modern era that power has been said to "come from the people"; previously, it was always and in all cultures embedded in a religious sphere.