POLITICAL CONCEPTS

The history of the concepts of politics can be equated, as to periods, of the existence of humans in this world. As such, the study of politics is very dynamic because of the continuous changes in the society. From the ancient times, during the reign of the various European states, the rise of the American democracy, the events during the two world wars and the present events in various technological advancements, the study of politics is continually attuning to the constant changes in the society.

Traditionally, politics is defined as the art and science of government. Even today’s students are usually referring to the traditional definition when studying politics. It is very obvious that even with the coming of the most recent and modern definition or view on politics, there are still a number of people viewing politics in its traditional definition. There’s really nothing wrong about this since in the field of public governance, politics is very patent. Our daily existence is affected, directly or indirectly, by the acts of the government.

Consider the following basic concepts of politics:

1. It is the process of making government policies. How the policies came into being, its formulation, its implementation and others.

2. It also includes the decision-making and decision enforcing processes in any group that makes and enforces rules for its members.

3. It also deals with public affairs, that is, the distribution of goods and services to satisfy the demands of the public.

4. Politics is also concerned with conflicts and their resources.

Historically, the term politics had its etymology from the Greek word “polis” which refers to the ancient city-states of which Athens and Sparta were the more prominent.

Finally, the modern day usage denotes a process in the political system in which the goals of that system are selected and ordered in terms of priority in the allocation of resources.