What Is Politics?
Politics refers to the way in which governments make rules and laws to manage human society properly. Politics also includes the ways in which governments interact with other governments to regulate inter-state affairs, such as trade and military conflict. People are naturally interested in politics, because it affects their everyday lives and they want to be able to participate and have a voice in the decisions that are made. Some people don’t like politics, but they should care because the decisions that are made can have a major impact on their life and those around them. Politics also tries to find the best way to organize and run countries, so that everyone has access to the resources they need.
There are a number of different definitions of politics, but the most common one is that politics concerns those institutions (such as governments or other organizations) that provide public services, enforce laws and ensure security. It also encompasses the activities of those who govern or administer things in these institutions, including the selection and sanctioning of leaders. This can occur in a variety of settings, from autocracies to democracies. It can also involve a wide range of activities, such as voting, lobbying, demonstrating and debating.
Many political scientists, such as Harold Lasswell, are concerned with how people get what they want in a polity. This might include the processes by which they win elections, how they gain influence in the workplace or at school, and how they access rights and privileges. They are also keen to know whether the systems through which they gain something are democratic, open or closed, fair or unfair.
In the United States, for example, people get what they want by submitting ballots in elections. These elections are conducted by a federal government laid out in the Constitution, plus state governments and local communities. There are two main political parties in the country, and voters select a candidate to represent their party.
However, many scholars have argued that this is too narrow a definition. It doesn’t take into account the many other types of political activity that don’t involve the state, such as protests, boycotts and the way in which a society’s economic and social structures precondition its participation in politics.
Another definition of politics is that it refers to the authoritative and legitimate struggle for limited or precious resources or rights and privileges in the context of the economy, society or the government. It can also encompass less observable ways of exercising power, such as setting agendas, whether in the form of parliamentary agendas that determine who speaks and for how long or news agendas that decide which stories are deemed ‘newsworthy’ and therefore worth reporting. This is a broad and important definition, but it still leaves out a lot of politics that happens outside of legislative votes, Supreme Court nominations and election campaigns. This omission is troubling because the world we live in is more complicated than just a series of legislative debates and electoral campaigns.
Politics refers to the way in which governments make rules and laws to manage human society properly. Politics also includes the ways in which governments interact with other governments to regulate inter-state affairs, such as trade and military conflict. People are naturally interested in politics, because it affects their everyday lives and they want to be able to participate and have a voice in the decisions that are made. Some people don’t like politics, but they should care because the decisions that are made can have a major impact on their life and those around them. Politics also tries to find the best way to organize and run countries, so that everyone has access to the resources they need. There are a number of different definitions of politics, but the most common one is that politics concerns those institutions (such as governments or other organizations) that provide public services, enforce laws and ensure security. It also encompasses the activities of those who govern or administer things in these institutions, including the selection and sanctioning of leaders. This can occur in a variety of settings, from autocracies to democracies. It can also involve a wide range of activities, such as voting, lobbying, demonstrating and debating. Many political scientists, such as Harold Lasswell, are concerned with how people get what they want in a polity. This might include the processes by which they win elections, how they gain influence in the workplace or at school, and how they access rights and privileges. They are also keen to know whether the systems through which they gain something are democratic, open or closed, fair or unfair. In the United States, for example, people get what they want by submitting ballots in elections. These elections are conducted by a federal government laid out in the Constitution, plus state governments and local communities. There are two main political parties in the country, and voters select a candidate to represent their party. However, many scholars have argued that this is too narrow a definition. It doesn’t take into account the many other types of political activity that don’t involve the state, such as protests, boycotts and the way in which a society’s economic and social structures precondition its participation in politics. Another definition of politics is that it refers to the authoritative and legitimate struggle for limited or precious resources or rights and privileges in the context of the economy, society or the government. It can also encompass less observable ways of exercising power, such as setting agendas, whether in the form of parliamentary agendas that determine who speaks and for how long or news agendas that decide which stories are deemed ‘newsworthy’ and therefore worth reporting. This is a broad and important definition, but it still leaves out a lot of politics that happens outside of legislative votes, Supreme Court nominations and election campaigns. This omission is troubling because the world we live in is more complicated than just a series of legislative debates and electoral campaigns.