Politics

Politics is the way that people living in groups make decisions. Politics is about
making agreements between people so that they can live together in groups such as
tribes, cities, or countries. In large groups, such as countries, some people may
spend a lot of their time making such agreements. These people are called
politicians. Politicians, and sometimes other people, may get together to form a
government. The study of politics in universities is called political science,
political studies, or public administration.

In everyday life, the term "politics" refers to the way that countries are
governed, and to the ways that governments make rules and laws. Politics can also
be seen in other groups, such as in companies, clubs, schools, and churches.

Contents
1 Government
2 Political parties
3 History
4 International politics
5 Related pages
Government
The government tries to lead the whole group. Governments do things such as:

Decide which people get which pieces of land

Decide which people can tell other people what to do
Decide whether to go to war with another country
Create money
Build things for the use of the whole group, such as roads, hospitals, libraries,
and docks.
Educate people, either for their own good, or to teach them what the government
wants them to know
Take care of the very young, the sick, or the very old
Manage the welfare of the country and manages the money available for spending on
services (Hospitals, Schools, etc.)
One of the ways the government leads the group is by making laws and rules which
tell everybody what they can and can not do. The government makes these laws so
that society will be safe and well-ordered. The law that "you must not drink
alcohol while driving a car" stops people from drunk driving, which could kill
people. The law "you must wear a helmet on a motorcycle" makes sure that people
protect themselves

The government can also control people and what happens in a country in other ways
besides making laws.

For example, how the government spends its money makes a big difference in what
people will do or what will happen to people. If the government spends a lot of
money on hospitals and nurses, the people will probably become healthier.
Also, if people like their government, or think that their government is wise, they
may do something just because their government says it is a good thing to do.
Governments often make posters or television advertisements that encourage people
to stop smoking cigarettes or eat more fruits and vegetables.
Politics is often compared to ethics (ideas about right and wrong). Ethics is a
more abstract study of right and wrong. Ethics is usually more concerned with
principle than law or politics or diplomacy, so many people think ethics is not
practical. But without some agreement on ethics, there is probably no way to even
have a debate, laws or an election. There is always some agreement on ethics and
personal conduct in a political system.

Political parties
In most countries, people have formed political parties to put forward their ideas.
There is usually some disagreement between people within a party, but they work
together because they feel that they agree on enough things, and they will have
more power if they join together. They agree to take the same position on many
issues, and agree to support the same changes to law and the same leaders. An
election is usually a competition between different parties. Some examples of
parties are the Liberal party, the Labor party and the Greens.

History
The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that humans are a political animal and that
ethics and politics are closely linked.

Niccol� Machiavelli wrote, in his 1532 book, The Prince, that politics was firstly
about having and keeping power. He said that without power, a leader could do
nothing.

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan, a book about politics. Hobbes wrote that
people living in groups often give up some of their rights in exchange for some
protections from a government.

In the 1800s, John Stuart Mill developed the "liberal" idea of politics. Mill said
that democracy is the most important political development of the 1800s. He said
that there should be more protection for individual rights against the government.

Bernard Crick wrote a list of the political virtues, which were about best
practices of politics itself.

International politics
There are also disagreements between different countries. Attempts to solve the
problem with meetings are called diplomacy. This is politics between nations
instead of politics within nations. If the problems are not resolved by diplomatic
meetings they can lead to war or terrorism.