politics

n.

1. (used with a sing. verb)
   1. The art or science of government or governing, especially the governing of a political entity, such as a nation, and the administration and control of its internal and external affairs.
   2. Political science.
2. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
   1. The activities or affairs engaged in by a government, politician, or political party: “All politics is local” (Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.). “Politics have appealed to me since I was at Oxford because they are exciting morning, noon, and night” (Jeffrey Archer).
   2. The methods or tactics involved in managing a state or government: The politics of the former regime were rejected by the new government leadership. If the politics of the conservative government now borders on the repressive, what can be expected when the economy falters?
3. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Political life: studied law with a view to going into politics; felt that politics was a worthwhile career.
4. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Intrigue or maneuvering within a political unit or group in order to gain control or power: Partisan politics is often an obstruction to good government. Office politics are often debilitating and counterproductive.
5. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Political attitudes and positions: His politics on that issue is his own business. Your politics are clearly more liberal than mine.
6. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.

USAGE NOTE   Politics, although plural in form, takes a singular verb when used to refer to the art or science of governing or to political science: Politics has been a concern of philosophers since Plato. But in its other senses politics can take either a singular or plural verb. Many other nouns that end in –ics behave similarly, and the user is advised to consult specific entries for precise information.

n

The art and science of governance, particularly in a democracy or collegial body.

As a general concept, the practice of the art or science of directing and administrating states or other political units. However, the definition of politics is highly, perhaps essentially, contested. There is considerable disagreement on which aspects of social life are to be considered ‘political’. At one extreme, many (notably, but not only, feminists) assert that‘the personal is political’, meaning that the essential characteristics of political life can be found in any relationship, such as that between a man and a woman. Popular usage, however, suggests a much narrower domain for politics: it is often assumed that politics only occurs at the level of government and the state and must involve party competition. In the sense developed in Bernard Crick's In Defence of Politics, the phenomenon of politics is very limited in time and space to certain kinds of relatively liberal, pluralistic societies which allow relatively open debate.

To say that an area of activity, like sport, the arts, or family life is not part of politics, or is ‘nothing to do with politics’, is to make a particular kind of political point about it, principally that it is not to be discussed on whatever is currently regarded as the political agenda. Keeping matters off the political agenda can, of course, be a very effective way of dealing with them in one's own interests.

The traditional definition of politics, ‘the art and science of government’, offers no constraint on its application since there has never been a consensus on which activities count as government. Is government confined to the state? Does it not also take place in church, guild, estate, and family?

There are two fundamental test questions we can apply to the concept of politics. First, do creatures other than human beings have politics? Second, can there be societies without politics? From classical times onward there have been some writers who thought that other creatures did have politics: in the mid-seventeenth century Purchas was referring to bees as the ‘political flying-insects’. Equally there have been attempts—before and since More coined the term—to posit ‘utopian’ societies with no politics. The implication is usually (‘Utopia’ means nowhere) that such a society is conceivable, but not practically possible.

A modern mainstream view might be: politics applies only to human beings, or at least to those beings which can communicate symbolically and thus make statements, invoke principles, argue, and disagree. Politics occurs where people disagree about the distribution of reasons and have at least some procedures for the resolution of such disagreements. It is thus not present in the state of nature where people make war on each other in their own interests, shouting, as it were, ‘I will have that’ rather than ‘I have a right to that’. It is also absent in other cases, where there is a monolithic and complete agreement on the rights and duties in a society. Of course, it can be objected that this definition makes the presence or absence of politics dependent on a contingent feature of consciousness, the question of whether people accept the existing rules. If one accepts notions of ‘latent disagreement’, there is, again, no limit to the political domain.

— Lincoln Allison

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

n.

A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

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IN BRIEF: The art of guiding and influencing governmental rules and procedures.

Practical politics consists of ignoring facts. — Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - politik
n. pl. - politiske anskuelser

Nederlands (Dutch)
politiek, staatkunde, staatsleer, opvattingen, gekonkel

Français (French)
n. - politique
n. pl. - politique, science politique, (École, Univ) sciences politiques, opinions politiques, intrigues

Deutsch (German)
n. - Politik, Regierungslehre
n. pl. - Politologie, Politikwissenschaft

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. pl. - πολιτική, διαχείριση των κοινών, (ΗΠΑ) πολιτικολογία, πολιτικές πεποιθήσεις, πολιτικό πιστεύω

Italiano (Italian)
vita politica, scienze politiche

Português (Portuguese)
n. pl. - política (f)

Русский (Russian)
политика, политология, махинации

Español (Spanish)
n. - política
n. pl. - políticas

Svenska (Swedish)
n. pl. - politik, statskonst, politiska idéer

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
政治, 政治信条, 政治学, 政见

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. pl. - 政治, 政治信條, 政治學, 政見
n. - 政治, 政治信條, 政治學, 政見

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 정치학
n. pl. - 정략

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 政治, 政策, 政治学, 政見

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الجمع) أساليب ومناورات سياسيه, آراء المرء وميوله السياسيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פוליטיקה, מדיניות, השקפות פוליטיות‬

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politics