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Politics
Politics is about living together in communities. Its subject-matter includes the consideration of such philosophical issues as the extent to which individual conduct should be made subordinate to the will of the community, and that of the proper rôle of the state as an expression of the will of the community. It also includes the consideration of such practical issues as the formulation and enforcement of rules governing the relations between the individual and the state. It encompasses the sociological influences upon the resolution of those issues in various communities, including the collective beliefs (or ideologies) that are held by their members. At the operational level, it includes prescriptive issues such as the conditions governing the legitimacy of government; the extent to which collective decision-making should be determined by ethical considerations rather than by its intended consequences; and the consideration that should be given to the welfare of foreign nationals. The descriptive content of politics includes the taxonomy of political systems, of institutional arrangements for the conduct of government, and of the institutions governing the conduct of international relations. It also includes accounts of the observed conduct of politicians in seeking to gain the approval of the community, and in their policy-making and executive activities when in office.
Etymology
The word politics comes from the Greek word Πολιτικά (politika), which was itself derived from πόλις (polis), "city". It was first used to mean the art of living in a city, but it subsequently acquired the broader interpretation of the art of being a citizen. That broader interpretation was implicit in the use of the word "cosmopolitan" to denote a citizen of the cosmos by the Cynics of the 4th century BCE. Later derivations included the terms "politic", "policy" and "police", and "polity" (a word used by some academics to refer to particular forms of governmental organisation). The term politics itself has also been used colloquially to describe (slightly discreditable) social conduct, as in "office politics" and, when extended to form a verb, in "politicking".
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