Name:

Subject and Section: POS101, B2-1

Activity: CRITICAL ESSAY

What is Politics? We come across such complications in answering the question,

what is Politics? As we try to search the term in Internet and Books, we will find there, not
just one or two definitions that are legally accepted but a large scope of different
definitions. In short, the term Politics has a vast number of suitable and valid definitions.
Thus, as also stated in Heywood’s book, ‘Politics is a loaded term’. In Heywood’s definition,
Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve and
amend the general rules under which they live. According to his books, the word Politics had
its etymology from a Greek word ‘POLIS’ which means, ‘City-state’. Some famous
philosophers and political-scientists also gave definitions of Politics. Karl Marx, defined
Politics as “ceaseless struggle for power”, Harold Laswell also defined Politics as “who gets
what, when and how?” and David Easton, another political scientist viewed Politics as
“authoritative allocation of values, which are binding in the society.” What’s interesting
about the term defined by Heywood is that, according to him, the term offers a limited
outlook of Politics. Politics in his sense is what takes within a Polity. What does Polity
means? According to the Collins English Dictionary, Polity is an organized society, such as a
nation, city, or church, together with its government and administration. So what does it
mean? Politics, therefore, is practiced in cabinet rooms, legislative chambers, government
departments and such. In this sense, Politics is engaged in by a limited group of people, such
as politicians, civil servants, and lobbyists.

It is agreeable that the view of politics as an essentially ‘public’ activity that has
generated both positive and negative images. In Heywood’s book, he stated that in a
tradition dating back to Aristotle, politics has been seen as a noble and enlightened activity
precisely because of its ‘public’ character. This position was then, firmly supported by
Hannah Arendt, who asserted in The Human Condition (1958) that politics is the most
important form of Human activity because it involves interaction amongst free and equal
citizens. According to Maurizio Passerin d’Entreves from 2006, Arendt’s concept of Politics is
based instead on the idea of active citizenship and the value and importance of civic
engagement and collective deliberation about matters affecting the Political community. For
her, Political activity is valued not because it may lead to agreement or to a shared
conception of the good, but because it enables each citizen to exercise his or her powers.
However, Politics s public activity has been interpreted as a form of unwanted interference
by some. Liberal theorists, in particular, have exhibited a preference for civil society over the
state, on the grounds that ‘private’ life is a realm of choice, personal freedom and individual
responsibility.

Now, I conclude that Politics is truly difficult to define because of the differences
between the vast conception of the term and the limited conception of it which is according
to some, only politicians are involved in Politics and is only associated with politicians and
the government. Remember, no one can avoid Politics. But we should take note, that
Politics is understood differently by different thinkers and its definition changes as time
passes by and as our society develop. Understanding politics will help us be aware of our
own rights, our power and what we are able of. It’ll help us understand complex structural
structures, and will also help us function effectively in a multicultural world.

Works Cited
d’Entreves, M. P. (2006, July 27). Hannah Arendt. Retrieved September 8, 2021, from
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/

HarperCollins Publishers. (2010). Collins Cobuild. Retrieved September 8, 2021, from Collins
dictionary: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/polity

Heywood, A. (2013). POLITICS (Vol. 4). New York, US: The Palgrave Macmillan.

Rod, T. (n.d.). What is Politics. Retrieved September 8, 2021, from SCRBD:

https://www.scribd.com/document/473542123/What-is-Politics