Defining Politics

So glad we've almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world
--Tears for Fears

In the civic context, politics is commonly defined as (1) the science and practice of government, or as the activities associated with government.

The operative characteristic of government is force. Government either forces people to a) do things that they do not want to do, or b) restrain from doing things that they do want to do.

What separates the use of force by government from the use of force by other entities is that the use of force by government is sanctioned by some fraction of society. Government force can be sanctioned by a ruling fraction of people. That ruling fraction may be small in the case of a monarchy or oligarchy. Or the ruling fraction may be large in the case of a democracy.

Government force can also be sanctioned through the rule of law. In this case, procedures recognized by the community as binding specify the legitimate domain of government force. The sanctioning fraction of society needs to be very large, otherwise the law would not be viewed as binding or legitimate.

As such, we can redefine politics as (2) the science and practice of using force sanctioned by some fraction of society, either through discretionary rule or through the rule of law.

Politics has a relational meaning as well. We speak of 'office politics' or of people acting 'politically.' In such cases we are typically referring to a desire to obtain resources by power or influence rather than by toiling to produce those resources through personal labor.

Because a basic axiom of human behavior is preference for leisure over labor, politics becomes a means for obtaining resources and satisfying desires on the back of the effort of others. Politics provide an opportunity to 'get something for nothing.'

When the scope of govenment includes capacity for taking wealth from some and redistributing it to others, then people are likely to seek political means for obtaining wealth and satisfying their desires. In this context, politics can be seen as (3) the science and practice of using force sanctioned by some fraction of society so that some may obtain wealth produced by others.