What is Politics?

Origin of the Word /Concept

 The word 'politics' is derived from the Greek word 'Polis' which means 'City-state'. The Greeks regarded the 'Polis' as the most meaningful organisation of persons within their political and socio-cultural milieu/relations - for they practised what is today known as classical democracy.

A Definition of Politics - Whether Necessary?

The idea of a definition of politics have been a controversial one with some scholars approving of it on the one hand and others disapproving of it on the other. However, Schattschneider have said that:

              

               "There is something strange about the feeling of scholars that a definition

               is not necessary. Inevitably, there is a lack of focus in the discipline 

               because it is difficult to see things that are undefined. People who cannot

               define the object of their studies do not know what they are looking for,

               and if they do not know what they are looking for, how can they tell when

               they have found it?

Some Definitions By Scholars

It is because of this feeling of a necessity for the definition of politics that we now have a gamut of definition for the concept of politics which include:

'...the authoritative allocation of values for a society' - David Easton.

'...who gets what, when and how' - Harold Laswell

'...all intersections and dispositions which are directly/indirectly aimed at or actually succeed in obtaining binding decisions about who have desired resources (or who do not); and when and how these are obtained, in any enduring social system' - E. Nwabuzor and M. Mueller .

Aristotle's View About Politics

For Aristotle (who first used the term politics in his book POLITICS to refer to the affairs of a Greek City-State), 'man by nature is a political animal'. He observed that whenever men seek to define their position  in society or as they attempt to achieve personal security from available resources and as they try to influence others to accept their points of view, they find themselves engage in politics and this in a broad sense makes everyone a politician.

Discussion

First, it must be noted that the term politics in spite of all these verbal expenditure and many more given by several scholars in the field of political science, has no universally acceptable definition just like other social concepts.

However, it must be observed from the above and I posit  that a definition of the concept  is necessary to guide the political scientist in his search for what politics actually is and its objectives . For to refuse a definition of politics would be like throwing a pebble into a place filled with a thousand of them while at the same time calling for other individuals to go in search of it without giving them a description of the desired pebble, such that like Schattschneider says, they would not only be ignorant of the so-desired pebble, but cannot as well tell when they have it in their hands due to their said ignorance, thereby leading to an effort in futility.

So, to tell the political scientist not to define his subject would be to let him embark on an impossible mission which end is already known and that is futility and confusion.

A Major Condition Necessary for Politics

The  use of the concept Politics presupposes the existence of an organised society of persons who are involved in some form of relations that has to do with power and influence that is connected with how the limited but valuable resources of the society are allocated between such individuals/groups making up such a community of persons or union.

What Politics is and What its Study is about

I want to submit that Politics can be seen as the study of power relations and influence as between individuals and or groups within a given community of organised persons who are involved in some recognizable and continuous relationships that involves the creation of influence, its manipulation and use to determine and allocate the limited but valued resources of such a community amongst such individuals/groups making-up the community.

This presupposes (as aforementioned) that such individuals must be organised and having such rules as are considered binding on them which would as well spell out how recognised influence is generated and or gotten by individuals within the society - including the relationships between them; how it can be used/manipulated; also such things as must be considered valuable by them (which varies from one society to another); and finally, how these are to be shared amongst them. How all these take place through the interactions of the different kinds of influence and power as are wielded by different individuals/groups within the community/union at different times is what the study of politics tries to unravel. 

OHALETEM EZEUGO EMMANUEL
(Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Benin-City, Edo State, Nigeria.)