What is Politics, and why is it important?
Politics has been famously described as ‘who gets what, when, and how
’. In essence, this broad summary of the concept of politics has truth, and effectively clarifies the most simplistic definition of what politics is.
However, in order to give a satisfying answer to the question posed, it is first essential to break down the stereotypical definition of politics; that is, move away from the idea of politics being merely a forum for pure debate, rather consider it as a basis for acting upon and attempting to resolve all levels of complications.
Immediately, a distinction must be made between Politics and the political. While both are entirely interlinked, the two are not the same. The political in itself constitutes any activity which involves engaging with others and making collective decisions, including an aggregate of many members. The political attempts to create unity on common difficulties (be they national, local, international etc.) where otherwise there would be a raucous difference in opinion; the result being that one can collectively make an informed decision based on the mean of all ideas and suggestions present.
However, the aforementioned applies foremost to a purely democratic society, where the average of all opinions is valued greater than the individual. In other, less libertarian, political circles, the political is not dealt with in the same way; authoritarian policy would argue that these complications are best resolved by the people who know best how to resolve them, thus resulting in a loss of potential freedom for the individual in the short run, in the hope it will be restored in the long term.
Through the use of the political, everything we see or do is touched by a law or a policy. Inanimate objects are a prime example a wall alone is just a wall, in 1990 when The Berlin Wall was torn down, no-one would classify it as purely bricks and mortar.
The alternative definition of Politics represents pure issues which affect us, and is deeply intertwined with the powers of Government and leading bodies. On a shallow level, Politics constitutes the relationship between the public and private sector; between The State and Society. Politics can be defined as the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area. Quintessentially, Politics represents the struggle for power, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve it.
Therefore it is clear that Politics as an idea is multi-faceted and exists entirely throughout everything we as society and community do. Such a hypothesis outlines its own importance; although there is no escaping the political, the discussion of Politics is essential for us to understand how best to make decisions which affect us all. World issues such as War, Draught, Hunger, AIDS and so on are all directly caused by or equally solvable through the use of Politics. It is only by investigation into the root causes and solutions to these problems that there is hope for those who would otherwise have none. Countries living under ideology of Anarchy without political structure or regime are incapable of sorting out the larger problems concerning them. Thus the importance of Politics is clear; to oversee in a rational manner both the small and the large problems which affect us and others alike today.
