The English word politics has its roots in the name of Aristotle’s classic work, Politiká, which introduced the Greek term politiká. In this book, Aristotle discussed
the city (πόλις : polis) or “political community” as opposed to other types of communities and partnerships such as the household and village.
the city (πόλις : polis) or “political community” as opposed to other types of communities and partnerships such as the household and village.
Eventually, the word politics came to mean several things, according to dictionaries and references:
- l the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power
- l the activities of governments concerning the political relations between states
- l the management of who gets what, when, how
- l the authoritative allocation of values for a society
- l the most concentrated expression of economics
The subject of politics also gave rise to the concepts of political manoeuvring, to manage one’s wellbeing or the wellbeing of one’s state/community. And thus, came into being the organization of people into political and ideological movements or identities. From these movements, emerged the struggles of those who have the power, and those who do not.