The Benefits of Studying Politics
Politics is an area of study that covers a vast range of activities, actors and spaces. It is also a subject that can be challenging to understand as it can often be viewed in different ways by different people. However, it is a subject that offers a wide variety of benefits to students, including the ability to analyse the way in which power is distributed and used, as well as the opportunities for students to develop their communication and research skills.
Whether you want to be a politician yourself, work in politics or simply understand the world around you better, studying Politics will give you a much more comprehensive understanding of how the key political bodies and institutions operate. It can also help you to develop your capacity for research, argument and judgement – which are all essential life skills.
There are many different definitions of politics, but the most common is that it is ‘a game in which people vie for scarce resources or rights.’ This view focuses on who gets what, when and how, and is characterised by the traditional left-right ideological cleavage.
A more recent perspective is that it is ‘the process of deciding and implementing social policy’. This view is more concerned with how policies are made and how they affect people’s lives, as opposed to the specific issues that are debated.
For some, this broader definition of politics may still seem to be too narrow as it excludes or overlooks the myriad political activities that do not directly involve the state. For example, animal rights activists would argue that their campaign to highlight the exploitation of animals is a political activity and should be included in any definition of politics.
Others would disagree, arguing that the inclusion of political activism in this definition is not just misleading but in fact harmful. They would point to the numerous studies that show that those who are more engaged with politics (e.g. voting, discussing politics, participating in political organisations) tend to have more negative experiences of their daily lives. This is because they find it harder to concentrate on their work, have more problems with family members and friends, are more anxious and irritable, have lower psychological well-being and report having less social capital. Moreover, they are more likely to be exposed to negative political media coverage and be annoyed by the behaviour of politicians.
Politics is an area of study that covers a vast range of activities, actors and spaces. It is also a subject that can be challenging to understand as it can often be viewed in different ways by different people. However, it is a subject that offers a wide variety of benefits to students, including the ability to analyse the way in which power is distributed and used, as well as the opportunities for students to develop their communication and research skills. Whether you want to be a politician yourself, work in politics or simply understand the world around you better, studying Politics will give you a much more comprehensive understanding of how the key political bodies and institutions operate. It can also help you to develop your capacity for research, argument and judgement – which are all essential life skills. There are many different definitions of politics, but the most common is that it is ‘a game in which people vie for scarce resources or rights.’ This view focuses on who gets what, when and how, and is characterised by the traditional left-right ideological cleavage. A more recent perspective is that it is ‘the process of deciding and implementing social policy’. This view is more concerned with how policies are made and how they affect people’s lives, as opposed to the specific issues that are debated. For some, this broader definition of politics may still seem to be too narrow as it excludes or overlooks the myriad political activities that do not directly involve the state. For example, animal rights activists would argue that their campaign to highlight the exploitation of animals is a political activity and should be included in any definition of politics. Others would disagree, arguing that the inclusion of political activism in this definition is not just misleading but in fact harmful. They would point to the numerous studies that show that those who are more engaged with politics (e.g. voting, discussing politics, participating in political organisations) tend to have more negative experiences of their daily lives. This is because they find it harder to concentrate on their work, have more problems with family members and friends, are more anxious and irritable, have lower psychological well-being and report having less social capital. Moreover, they are more likely to be exposed to negative political media coverage and be annoyed by the behaviour of politicians.