Adjective

political (comparative more political, superlative most political)

Positive political

Comparative more political

Superlative most political

1. concerning or related to politics, the art and process of governing

   Political principles are rarely absolute, as political logic holds an imperfect result by compromise is better then a theoretically perfect abstention from the political process in the opposition

2. concerning a polity or its administrative components

   Good political staff is hard to find, they may neither be ambitious and corrupted by power nor tempted by private sector careers

3. (pejorative) motivated, especially inappropriately, by political (electoral or other party political) calculation
4. of or related to views about social relationships that involve power or authority

Synonyms

• politic

Antonyms

• nonpolitical

Derived terms

• politically
• political agent
• political animal
• political asylum
• political economy
• political party
• political prisoner
• party political
• politically correct
• sociopolitical

Related terms

• politician
• politicize
• politick
• politico

Politics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers to the regulation of a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.

"Politics" ultimately comes from the Greek word "polis" meaning state or city. "Politikos" describes anything concerning the state or city affairs. In Latin, this was "politicus" and in French "politique". Thus it became "politics" in Middle English ( see the Concise Oxford Dictionary).

There is no academic consensus on the exact definition of "Politics", and what counts as political and what does not. Max Weber defined politics as the struggle for power.

As an academic discipline

Political science, the study of politics, examines the acquisition and application of power. Related areas of study include political philosophy, which seeks a rationale for politics and an ethic of public behaviour, political economy, which attempts to develop understandings of the relationships between politics and the economy and the governance of the two, and public administration, which examines the practices of governance.