Politics
There are almost as many definitions of politics as there are authorities
willing to offer an opinion on the subject. Politics has been portrayed as
the exercise of power or authority, as a process of collective decisionmaking,
as the allocation of scarce resources, as an arena of deception or
manipulation and so forth. A number of characteristic themes nevertheless
crop up in most, if not all, these definitions. In the first place, politics is an
activity. Although politics is also an academic subject, sometimes indicated
by the use of ‘Politics’ with a capital letter P, it is clearly the study of the
activity of ‘politics’. Second, politics is a social activity; it arises out of
interaction between or among people, and did not, for example, occur on
Robinson Crusoe’s island – though it certainly did once Man Friday
appeared. Third, politics develops out of diversity, the existence of a range
of opinions, wants, needs or interests. Fourth, this diversity is closely
linked to the existence of conflict: politics involves the expression of
differing opinions, competition between rival goals or a clash of
irreconcilable interests. Where spontaneous agreement or natural harmony
occurs, politics cannot be found. Finally, politics is about decisions,
collective decisions which are in some way regarded as binding upon a
group of people. It is through such decisions that conflict is resolved.
However, politics is better thought of as the search for conflict-resolution
rather than its achievement, since not all conflicts are, or can be, resolved.
However, this is where agreement ends. There are profound differences
about when, how, where, and in relation to whom, this ‘politics’ takes
place. For instance, which conflicts can be called ‘political’? What forms of
conflict-resolution can be described as ‘political’? And where is this activity
of ‘politics’ located? Three clearly distinct conceptions of politics can be
identified. In the first place, politics has long been associated with the
formal institutions of government and the activities which take place
therein. Second, politics is commonly linked to public life and public
activities, in contrast to what is thought of as private or personal. Third,
politics has been related to the distribution of power, wealth and
resources, something that takes place within all institutions and at every
level of social existence.
The art of government
Bismarck declared that ‘politics is not a science . . . but an art’. The art he
had in mind was the art of government, the exercise of control within
society through the making and enforcement of collective decisions. This is
perhaps the classical definition of politics, having developed from the
original meaning of the term in Ancient Greece. The word ‘politics’ is