What Is Politics?
Politics is the way people in groups make agreements so that they can live together. People living together in countries, for example, need to agree about how to organize their governments and other things that affect them. Politics is also about the power struggles between people who want to control the government or other institutions. The study of politics in universities is called political science, government or political studies.
Politics can be broadly defined as the rules and activities that govern the distribution of resources, access to rights and privileges and other aspects of a polity. It includes governmental matters, but it also reaches into other areas such as business, education, law and religion. Broad definitions of politics can be challenged by those who think that they stretch the word too far and lose meaning.
The main problem with a’stretched’ definition of politics is that it can include activities that don’t really relate to governing or allocating resources. This is because it includes all sorts of social activities that are aimed at changing things in society, such as boycotting a company, reading a banned book or protesting. It can even include writing a novel or painting a picture, as these are often ‘directed’ towards an audience, even though they don’t necessarily involve the allocation of resources or the creation of laws. This is why many proponents of narrower definitions of politics object to the stretching of the term: it can become everything that happens in society, a field so vast that it is impossible for any human to understand or control.
Another problem with a broad definition of politics is that it can lead to ineffective and divisive policies. When a group dominates the political process, it tends to impose its ideologies on the rest of society, which leads to polarization of opinion and debate that makes it hard to find solutions to national problems. The partisan legislative assembly line of the United States, for instance, produces ideological, unbalanced and unsustainable laws that are easier to pass because they appeal to one party’s supporters than to the opposition.
Attempting to address these problems requires politicians who are willing to compromise and to work with other parties. Unfortunately, too few politicians are able to do this because they believe that it is more valuable for them to get their party’s votes and power than to solve problems and unite the country. A major challenge for politicians is to avoid the temptation of reverting to ideology, as Niccolo Machiavelli suggested in his 1532 book The Prince and Thomas Hobbes did in his 1651 book Leviathan. Instead, they should strive to be the “best of both worlds” and seek compromise. This will enable them to address societal problems and build trust. Then they will be able to deliver on their promises to the public and help restore faith in politics. This is the only way to solve the current crisis of confidence in politics and rebuild public trust.
Politics is the way people in groups make agreements so that they can live together. People living together in countries, for example, need to agree about how to organize their governments and other things that affect them. Politics is also about the power struggles between people who want to control the government or other institutions. The study of politics in universities is called political science, government or political studies. Politics can be broadly defined as the rules and activities that govern the distribution of resources, access to rights and privileges and other aspects of a polity. It includes governmental matters, but it also reaches into other areas such as business, education, law and religion. Broad definitions of politics can be challenged by those who think that they stretch the word too far and lose meaning. The main problem with a’stretched’ definition of politics is that it can include activities that don’t really relate to governing or allocating resources. This is because it includes all sorts of social activities that are aimed at changing things in society, such as boycotting a company, reading a banned book or protesting. It can even include writing a novel or painting a picture, as these are often ‘directed’ towards an audience, even though they don’t necessarily involve the allocation of resources or the creation of laws. This is why many proponents of narrower definitions of politics object to the stretching of the term: it can become everything that happens in society, a field so vast that it is impossible for any human to understand or control. Another problem with a broad definition of politics is that it can lead to ineffective and divisive policies. When a group dominates the political process, it tends to impose its ideologies on the rest of society, which leads to polarization of opinion and debate that makes it hard to find solutions to national problems. The partisan legislative assembly line of the United States, for instance, produces ideological, unbalanced and unsustainable laws that are easier to pass because they appeal to one party’s supporters than to the opposition. Attempting to address these problems requires politicians who are willing to compromise and to work with other parties. Unfortunately, too few politicians are able to do this because they believe that it is more valuable for them to get their party’s votes and power than to solve problems and unite the country. A major challenge for politicians is to avoid the temptation of reverting to ideology, as Niccolo Machiavelli suggested in his 1532 book The Prince and Thomas Hobbes did in his 1651 book Leviathan. Instead, they should strive to be the “best of both worlds” and seek compromise. This will enable them to address societal problems and build trust. Then they will be able to deliver on their promises to the public and help restore faith in politics. This is the only way to solve the current crisis of confidence in politics and rebuild public trust.